OK KO!: Serious Mode
by HighwayJoJo
Summary: This story is a rewritten version of the show, with a bit of a serious tone. A few plot points are added, taken out, or altered in order to provide an interesting story. Leave a detailed review! With constructive criticism!
1. Chapter 1

The following story is a rewrite of OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes with a more serious writing style. **Bold **means that the section is a canonical episode of the show(even if the events are rewritten). _Italicized underlined_ means that the "episode" is my own addition. If there are any problems you had with the story, I can revise to a degree. I may remove what I perceive as "filler". Enjoy!

Author's Note 1: A personal friend of mine told me about the dialogue I wrote in the first "episode," and pointed out that the dialogue for Rad and K.O. didn't match how they talked in the show. I have done my best to correct this, but if anyone has any further problems, leave a review.

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**Let's Be Heroes**

As K.O. is in the car looking through his collection of POW Cards, particularly at Mr. Gar and Sparko, Carol hops in the driver's seat to take K.O. with her to Lakewood Plaza Turbo. K.O.'s babysitter, Punching Judy, is currently in a boxing match against The Flu(airing on Showtime for concerns of brutal maiming done by Judy), and cannot babysit K.O. at the time. As they approach Lakewood Plaza Turbo, K.O. begins to wonder about how he can become a great hero.

"_Will it only be after a lifetime of hard work, or through extremely stressful circumstances? Will it be through my efforts, magic, or even divine intervention?"_

These thoughts run through K.O.'s head until he heads out of the vehicle with his mother. To answer one of his questions, his first stop is the Fitness Dojo ...After a quick rendezvous with Mr. Gar. As soon as Mr. Gar is done assigning jobs to his employees Rad and Enid, whose names K.O. knew from a quick glimpse of their name tags, he awkwardly greets Carol and K.O.. When K.O. asks how he ended up as the hero he is, he struggles for an answer, but manages to give an answer.

"Well, uh, I just try to improve my abilities as best I can!"

"And how do you do that, Mr. Gar?"

"By, er, training! Lots and lots of training! Why do you ask?"

"I was hoping to see how I can become a great hero as quickly as possible, even if I end up feeling really crummy on the road there."

Mr. Gar looks at K.O. with concern. He's worried that K.O. might not see the value of the time he has and he wants to make sure K.O. doesn't rush things.

"K.O., I understand that you want to help as many people as you can and that being a great hero is the best way to do that, but you shouldn't let your life pass you by just for that goal. Enjoy being a kid while it lasts."

"Why should I be a kid if kids don't really do anything? Besides, wouldn't not being a hero so I could be happy be considered selfish?"

"Well I'm sure that you can find your own answers in time."

K.O. is initially puzzled before deciding to head to the Dojo. He loads up the heaviest weights he can grip and begins to practice rapidly punching and running with them until his arms give out. In the other room of the Dojo, Carol is giving a demonstration of a karate chop, the force of the chop completely pulverized the board. Realizing that they are out of boards, Carol calls K.O. to the room.

"K.O., could you please go to the bodega and get us some more boards?"

"Let me guess, mommy, you forgot to hold back, even though this is the 5th time you've done it this week?"

_(nervously)_ "Let's not talk about that, sweetie. We'll need about 50 or so boards to finish up. You can get something for yourself too, while you're at it."

Carol kissed K.O. on the cheek and he was off. As he looked for the boards, he noticed that many of the people on his POW Cards shop here as well. He then comes to a conclusion about what makes a great hero.

"_This is it! This is what allows people to be great heroes! Where Nick Army gets his explosives, where Shy Ninja gets all her ninjutsu equipment, and where many other heroes get what they need to do their jobs! I bet that if I can get something to assist my natural abilities, I can stand alongside them as one of the greats!"_

After grabbing all of the soon-to-be euthanized planks, he then grabs a pair of fire gauntlets and tests them out with a few quick phantom punches. They immediately provide bursts of fire with the force of the punches.

"_These gloves are pretty powerful! I should probably get these to augment my Power Fists."_

He decides to grab them and put them with the boards, before realizing just how asinine of an idea that is. He walks up to the counter and waits for a literal giant baby to be done with his purchases and then asks Enid to ring him up. He uses the cash provided to him by his mother and purchases the fire gauntlets, along with the wooden planks he came here for.

"I wonder what drove you to get a job at this really cool bodega! Was it to learn cool facts about each hero, or are there super powerful weapons only available to employees of this store?"

"I guess it was ...money?"

"Touché. But there must be something else that gives you the strength to face the hardships of the job. So can you tell me?"

"I honestly have no clue where my mental strength comes from."

"Well please tell me when you do figure it out, okay?"

"Okay, little dude. I'll let you know when I finally see what allows me to face the mental stress of this job and still keep a straight face."

K.O. thanks her and begins to head for the Dojo with a smile on his face. He is confident that he will be able to prove himself a true hero when the time comes. As Enid looks at the long line of ramblers, change counters, and Pird, she briefly ponders the question of the little cinnamon roll.

"_What does keep me coming back to this job? And why do I have no idea what it is? That little kid sure provided food for thought."_

K.O. manages to deliver the planks and Carol's students get to practicing their punches, kicks, and Power Moves on the planks, bringing to mind the image of a professional executioner using the guillotine to kill an irredeemable criminal. As K.O. is about to go back to his training, Carol catches a glimpse of the fire gauntlets K.O. kept in a satchel.

"What aisle did you get those fire gauntlets from? I've tried looking for those in the weapon aisle, but they have eluded me every time."

"I tried looking in the same place as the gloves to see if they were mistakenly put under there."

"How did I not think of that?!"

As Carol says this, an alarm goes off in all of the buildings of the plaza. Lord Boxman has sent a Blind Box to destroy the plaza. Metal barriers come down to protect the stores and people are panicking. K.O. considers this the perfect opportunity to test his abilities and puts on his fire gauntlets in preparation, but Carol stops him.

"K.O., you can't just go out there and fight a villain you don't know! What happens if you get hurt?"

"But mommy, if I don't know what I'm capable of, I might be too afraid to become a hero. Besides, if I get hurt, I can learn from my mistakes and prepare myself to try again, just like in your stories!"

Carol is worried, but she understands that he has to learn from experience. With a concerned look, she lets K.O. face the unknown threat as best he can. The box has been sent through and opens itself to reveal Darrell, a boxbot that has amazing options for customization. Unfortunately, because none of those options were explored, he's only a step above the Jethro line in terms of actual threat level. As Rad and Enid are getting ready to face Darrell, K.O. gets in front of them and puts on the fire gauntlets. Enid immediately objects to this.

_(visibly concerned)_ "What exactly are you doing, little guy?"

"I'm getting ready to kill this vile robot and protect the plaza!"

"I'm afraid that doesn't seem like a very good idea due to the fact that you could end up in the hospital!"

"If heroes avoided hero work because they were afraid of being hospitalized, villains would be the ones in charge! Besides, maybe I can even find out what will give me the strength to pull through this. The same strength that allows you to face a job that takes everything you have and keeps taking!"

"K.O…."

As K.O. walks towards Darrell, Rad realizes that Enid knew the kid's name.

"Where did you even get that kid's name, Enid? It's not like you're me or anything."

"I guess I overheard his mother call his name when trying to stop him. Let's see how he does, first. Maybe you could even give him some pointers when this is all done."

Rad's face lights up when she says that. The idea of a pupil sounds kinda nice to him. K.O. is face to face with the mechanical menace Darrell. With his fire gauntlets at the ready, he accosts Darrell.

"Darrell! How dare you try to bully the good people of this plaza?! You don't even get anything out of it!"

"My daddy told me to destroy the plaza so that it would be out of his face! That's good enough for me!"

"So instead of saying 'Hey dad, maybe we shouldn't send a 5 million techno robot to a place that doesn't even screw with us' , you obey his word without question, knowing that there are heroes stronger than you here?! Way to prove your lack of sentience, android."

"What did you just say to-?!"

K.O. then uses that break in Darrell's attention to deliver a flame-enhanced Power Fist right to Darrell's metal teeth, making them look mangled and twisted. K.O. is ecstatic at what he managed to do to Darrell.

"_I actually damaged him! Let's see if I can bring him down!"_

K.O. attempts to follow-up his feat with a critical hit to the solar plexus, but Darrell prevents that by kicking K.O. in the gut. Darrell is extremely nettled at K.O.'s recent offense against him.

"You are going to pay for making me look like I belong in the junkyard!"

Darrell then launches a point-blank plasma wave in K.O.'s face at full power. K.O. is blasted through the bodega windows and crashes through the aisles and eventually makes a hole through the back of the bodega. Enid and Rad watched the fight with a mixture of horror and amazement.

"Holy crud, Enid! Who knew Darrell could do that?! If he could make blasts like that all the time, he might actually stand a chance against me! K.O. is in way over his head."

"I don't know, Rad. The only reason Darrell made that blast is because K.O. did a number to his teeth. Not to mention that he's getting up from the blast as we speak. And he doesn't look that worse for the wear."

"Wait, K.O. survived?! I've gotta know how he does it!"

As K.O. stand up from the rubble, Darrell throws a tantrum over the fact that his target is still alive from that blast. K.O. is looking relatively satisfied with his endurance.

"Do ya feel lucky, punk? Because I can take more of that peashooter if you've got it. Or do you shoot one round, and that's it?"

Darrell closes the gap, looking to deliver another blast. K.O. gets ready to block, but is caught off guard by a spiked fist to the face, actually drawing blood. Besides that, K.O. is relatively okay.

"Thank you sir, may I have another? And yes, I know that was from Animal House, but it sounded so cool!"

Darrell then snaps and decides not to hold back anything against this little kid. He restricts K.O. and wails on him until his frustration is clear. Darrell looks at the boy, battered and nearly unconscious, with contempt.

"I don't give a darn who you are. To me, you're nothing but a worthless kid who will never be able to do anything against me. You got that, you little weakling?!"

K.O. then suddenly opens his eyes and flashes a scowl. Purple lightning emits from his body as he stands up. His wristbands growing spikes until there are eight spikes on each band. Darrell is slightly confused at what's happening. K.O. then looks at Darrell with utter malice.

"Don't. Call. Me. Weak!"

The electrified K.O. then zooms to Darrell's position and rips his arm off. Darrell then quits being angry and begins to fear for his life. Darrell then decides to use the "flight" part of "fight or flight" and runs away. K.O., after attempting to regain his self-control, follows after Darrell and slices both his legs off and corners him. He readies a purple-colored Power Fist to finish Darrell off, but before he can, Mr. Gar descends from the sky to give Darrell the killing blow. Darrell smiles at this, and is then destroyed. The blast snaps K.O. back to his senses, and he is briefly confused.

"What happened? I remember Darrell calling me weak, but everything after that is kinda fuzzy."

Rad and Enid then excitedly approached K.O., ready to tell him the news of what he recently did. Enid in particular wants to deliver the news first.

"You totally kicked butt, K.O.! When you got up from that beating, you ripped Darrell's arm off like a twig!"

"Yeah! And when Darrell tried to run away, you were all like 'not happening,' and karate chopped his legs off!"

"And before Mr. Gar killed Darrell in one hit, you were going to do the deed yourself with this really cool purple attack!"

K.O. is concerned at what happened, but proud that he was able to do it. However, he is certain that he shouldn't black out like that again, lest he kill an innocent person.

"_I let my anger get to me in that battle. If I didn't get snapped out of it, I could have ended up doing something wrong! I can't do that again. But how do I control this mysterious power? Maybe this place contains the answers! Tons of heroes come here every day, so at least one of them is bound to have a problem similar to mine. Or maybe I can find a way to control it by interacting with the heroes that visit this plaza and obtaining their wisdom. One thing's for certain: I've gotta get a job working here!"_

Rad then remembers that Mr. Gar came at exactly the right time to destroy Darrell and restore K.O. to normal.

"By the way, how come you came at the exact same time that K.O. was going to destroy Darrell and destroyed him yourself?"

"I figured that I needed to prevent K.O. from losing control, so I decided that a robot explosion was the best thing to bring him back!"

K.O. smiles and decides to put getting a job application on his to-do list.

**Let's Be Friends**

K.O. decides to get some information about the job requirements before he gets a job interview, because he doesn't want to look like a total wanker. Looking at Rad and Enid, he quickly deduces that Enid is the smart one, so he decides to ask her about the job first.

"Hey Enid, what sort of things are required to get a job at this super cool bodega?"

"How do you know my name? I have never told you my name in our last few conversations."

"I guess I overheard you and Rad call each other by your names!"

Enid gets a small sense of déjà vu from his statement, as that is a similar response to what she told Rad. K.O. must have done this on purpose, as he could have just mentioned the name tags.

"Fair enough. Anyway, the only requirements for the job are that you have to be 'not evil,' you have to be good at something here, and you have to be able to at least hold your own against a boxbot."

"You mean the robots made by that dingus, Lord Boxman?! He seems like a dick!"

"K.O.! Does your mother know you say that?!"

"I actually asked her about Lord Boxman, and that was the response I got."

Enid looks disapprovingly at Carol, who appears to be nervous at the sudden staring. Carol hasn't really talked to other parental figures about how to raise a child, so she mainly learned by trial and error. And she hadn't really considered certain curse words off-limits, so she didn't understand why Enid is disapproving of her.

"What?! Lord Boxman is a dick! Besides, I don't really think that villains deserve to be spared from getting cursed out!"

"Still, that's pretty shocking!"

Lord Boxman is looking at this from his office with the same look Enid gave Carol for exposing K.O. to a curse word. He hates Lakewood Plaza Turbo with a passion. Even if they don't antagonize him, his very being is repulsed by this presence.

"Curses! Those rotten plaza pests foiled my plans again! That Darrell didn't even have a head left for me to scold! And just what was with that purple-y power that kid had?! My robot was shaking in his boots!"

Lord Boxman composes himself and calms down, with his eyes peering between his fingers.

"No matter. I'll just have to find a way to lure that Highway Star of a kid to my establishment and use his weird power to supercharge my robots! And then that plaza will become a crest of blood. Shannon!"

Shannon then zooms into the room with an excited look on her face. She has been waiting for a chance to prove her worth to Lord Boxman.

"Yes, daddy?"

"I want you to lure that kid in the headband to my factory somehow. Use any means you have of getting him here! Including using your shapeshifting to disguise yourself."

_(smugly)_ "Parameters recognized."

Shannon then morphs into a very effeminate looking young man with pink hair and an orange colored tuxedo with green bow tie.

"What is the deal with the pink hair, anyway? Did you decide that you needed to look like a hip teen and thought that pink was the new black?"

_(with a very arousing voice)_ "I would chalk it up to personal preference, really. Besides, I find that I pull off the look pretty well. What with the well-groomed hair, attractive facial features, and slender body."

"Yes, I'm sure that you can seduce one of them into coming here. Now lure the kid here!"

"Yes, sir!"

Shannon rushes for the front door, before remembering that she(or he, in this instance) needs to look like someone that isn't from Boxmore, so she takes a secret exit. Back at the bodega, K.O. is showing off his cleaning skills to Enid and Rad, who appear to be impressed with the time he is making in cleaning the entire bodega. He finishes and they record his time, with Enid delivering the time.

"Four minutes. That is definitely a rarity in custodian services. If Mr. Gar could see what you did, he would definitely hire you."

"That's pretty kind of you, Enid! But I also have to prove myself in combat, as well. And Mr. Gar could just chalk my combat ability up to that evil power I displayed against Darrell! I have to prove my combat ability against another one of those box jerks the next time they show up!"

Just then, a man introducing himself as Shane Arca shows up to lend some advice to the budding hero.

"Perhaps you don't need to wait for a villain to show their face here."

"What do you mean by that, Mr. Arca?"

"I mean that you could track down a villain and kill them. You could even go to the source of the Darrells and take the heads of a few actively functioning ones as proof that you slayed them."

"That seems like a perfectly acceptable and convenient answer to my problem! Thanks, Mr. Arca!"

"No problem, sir."

K.O. and Shane then shake hands, with K.O. being in a position to measure his pulse.

"I'll make sure to demolish any boxbot I see! Starting…"

K.O. then puts a tight grip on Shane's arm and begins to make him nervous.

"Forgive me, but what are you-"

"...With you!"

K.O. rips Shane's arm in one swift motion, revealing a complex array of circuitry and robotic parts. Shane screams in sheer pain and recoils in agony. Rad then compliments K.O. on his deed.

"That was awesome, K.O.! How did you know that guy was a robot?!"

"I didn't feel any sort of pulse while I was shaking his hand. It was like shaking the hand of one of those things at the mall that look like humans, but aren't."

"You mean mannequins?"

"So that's what they're called."

While this is going on, Shane seems particularly offended at the gesture that K.O. made during their hand shake. Particularly the part where he was unwillingly amputated.

"You know, I could be a good robot, one that you brutally injured!"

K.O. speaks to him.

"You attempted to lead an innocent child into what could be a trap that could lead to him dying or worse. That is not what a good robot would do."

"Fair enough. I guess I'll have to kidnap you the old-fashioned way."

"By leading me into a white van with promises of candy and videogames?"

"That is a sick joke, and I wish I had thought of it. No, I'll just have to fight you."

Shane then proceeds to turn his left hand, which is the only hand left, into a saw blade. K.O. gets ready to fight. He looks over to Enid.

"Neither you, nor Rad should help me in this fight. Record it so that I could show it to Mr. Gar when I apply for a job here!"

"You got it!"

Enid is confident in K.O.'s ability to win the fight. Even if he doesn't use the fire gauntlets, he has an extraordinary amount of physical capability. He is also very determined to win. Rad looks on in agreement. He is hoping to hope that the little guy can work with him more often.

Round 1. K.O. rushes to deliver a punch to Shane's solar plexus, but Shane swings the spinning saw in front of K.O.. K.O. grabs onto the sides of the saw and waits until he is aligned with Shane's chest. K.O. punches Shane in the chest and sends him reeling. Unlike what happened with Darrell, K.O. is successful in the follow-up, where he goes up to Shane's face and delivers a barrage of punches engulfed in blue aura. Shane ends up with a seriously battered face, but he isn't down on the floor… until K.O. grabs him by the legs and tosses him there. Shane is about to get his hand chopped off by K.O., but then opens his chest to reveal a collection of bombs. They detonate just in time to save Shane's hand, but K.O. escapes me blast just in time. K.O. then surprises Shane with several Power Fists emerging from the smokescreen caused by the blast. Shane dodges each Power Fist, only to be caught off guard by a hit to the lower back. K.O. motions to tear off Shane's remaining arm, but is brought to the ground by Shane turning his feet into rockets, thus freeing Shane from his hold. Shane tries to go for a killing blow with the buzzsaw, but is pushed away by a Twin Power Fist, which later explodes and exposes the mechanical insides of his chest. Both K.O. and Shane stop to catch their breath.

"I've gotta admit, the rocket feet and that thing you did with those bombs was pretty awesome."

"Thanks. Your evasive manoeuvres and the cover fire were pretty clever."

"Thank you. There is one thing I've been wondering since the Darrell fight. Why don't you question your daddy's decisions?"

"Because when we do what daddy tells us and succeed, we get love and affection."

"And why can't you get love and affection from someone else? Like your friends?"

"Daddy doesn't allow us free reign outside of Boxmore; or anywhere else, really. If we defy him and make him really mad, then he might decommission us."

"He'd do that to you guys?! I know that he's a villain, but there are just things that not even villains should stoop to! If he ends up dying, I'll make sure that you not only get freedom, but a friend."

"That actually sounds good. Is it okay if we keep fighting? As something for fun, I mean."

"I don't really like meaningless violence, but a battle between two people is something sacred."

"Good to know."

Round 2. Shane turns his saw into a gatling laser cannon, while K.O. readies a Power Move. They rush for each other. Shane fires dozens of shots at K.O., but all of them are engulfed and compressed by a giant blue hand emanating from K.O.'s palm. Shane then turns his gatling into a high-powered laser cannon, and both he and K.O. fire at each other at point-blank range, Shane firing a gigantic plasma stream and K.O. letting loose a Power Fist containing the shots Shane had fired previously. The collision creates an explosion that decimates the parking lot of Lakewood Plaza Turbo. The two combatants are intact and separate from each other. Shane transforms his arm into a saw launcher and fires in quick succession at K.O.. 50 saws per second are emerging, in an arrangement that would make the shots hard to follow, but K.O. catches some of the shots with his hands, reinforced with aura, and throws some of them at Shane, forcing him to dodge left. K.O. rushes to attack Shane, but Shane turns his foot into a bomb cannon and fires a thermobaric weapon at K.O., who manages to envelop the explosive in two hands of blue aura and throw it at Shane. The explosive detonates and a massive blast wave hits the two. Both fighters emerge topless, their tops having been burned by the explosion, and with unkempt hair, K.O. in particular missing the headband, which the fireball consumed.

"Before I met you, I honestly didn't know that shapeshifters could do so many cool things!"

"Before I fought you, I had no idea that humans could go so far beyond their supposed limitations!"

"We should probably get this over with. I want to apply for a job at the bodega, and you should make sure that Boxman doesn't lash out irrationally."

"I have an idea. Why don't we end off with a show of pure power? A beam struggle, where we put the remainder of our power into one epic attack!"

"I can only imagine how awesome that would be!"

"Why imagine when you could experience it?!"

Final Round. Shane and K.O. pull back their arms. Shane's hand transforms into a black glove adorned with spherical green gemstones, and a whirlwind emerges around K.O.. Both fighters yell and their hands are covered in energy, Shane's being green and K.O.'s being blue, with black and white lightning dancing around them, the black emerging from Shane and the white emerging from K.O.. The attacks charge up for about one minute before they are ready to fire. K.O. unleashes a titanic fist made of blue aura, and Shane fires a bunch of lasers from the gemstones that converge into a singular wave. The attacks collide and they push against one another, with lightning of black and white dancing all around the battlefield. First Shane gets a small lead on K.O., but then K.O. manages to get the upper hand. This continues for a small time before K.O. pushes the fist even further and it overtakes the collection of green lasers, and the black lightning disappears. K.O. is victorious, but Shane is nowhere to be found.

"_Don't worry, K.O.. Shane was robotic, so he probably has a server like Darrell does. I'll meet him again, and maybe we'll be on a better foot next time."_

Rad and Enid rush over to congratulate K.O. on his first incontestable victory. Rad makes sure to deliver the news first.

"Dude, that was awesome! You had these surprise attacks and complex choreography and stuff! I wouldn't be surprised if this became an action movie!"

"Same here! I especially like how you had an epic beam struggle with that guy! It was like something out of a shōnen manga series! Mr. Gar would be a fool not to hire you now!"

K.O. smiles warmly and blushes at the compliment. This is the first time in his life he had been complimented for something purely of his own power like this.

"Thanks, guys. Now all that's left between me and a job here is the interview!"

_(both at the same time)_ "You know it!"

As they share in the camaraderie, Lord Boxman is throwing what can only be described as a childish temper tantrum. The robot he sent to get K.O. failed miserably in the task; The plaza has a massive source of power safeguarded; They even managed to make more of that disgusting friendship in the wake of it. He is going to talk to Shannon about this.

"SHANNON!"

"Yes daddy?"

"Why did you decide to indulge that kid with a Power Battle that made him look really cool and gave him more friends, instead of trapping him in something and taking him?!"

"Because it felt like it was the right thing to do."

"I will have no heroic characters in my house, young lady! This is a place for supervillainy!"

_(sternly)_ "I didn't say 'good,' I said 'right.' Know the difference."

Shannon then walks away from Boxman in a defiant manner while he fumes with anger. The fight against K.O. gave her a newfound sense of independence and self-worth, and for the first time since she was created, she found a deeper happiness in her soul.

"_K.O., I hope that we meet again someday. You are an ever-shining beacon of hope for everyone you meet. Anyone would be lucky to have you."_

She smiles and enters her room.

_Interview At The Bodega_

After the confrontation with Shane Arca, Enid managed to set up a job interview between K.O. and Mr. Gar. They decided to go over the basics of job interviews.

"Basically, try to be formal, make sure to remain calm, and put everything on the table that might sway his opinion. I hope you know that I'm speaking metaphorically."

"Yes. Thanks for the tips, Enid! I'm sure that I'll manage to make an impact!"

_(slightly blushing)_ "No problem, bud."

Enid is hoping for the best possible scenario in this instance. After knowing him for even a few moments, she feels happier around him, a quality that she can't really explain with anything but natural charisma. Either way, she wants him around as a friend. The PA system turns on.

"Will a 'Kaio Kincaid' please come to my office for a job interview?"

Enid and Rad go to give him a few more words of encouragement.

"This is it. See you when you finish the interview."

"I'm sure you'll do great. I mean, not as great as me, but still great."

"Rad, your interview wasn't that much of a standout. K.O. will probably do way better."

Rad looks slightly annoyed, but decides it isn't the time to fight. After all, K.O. needs to concentrate on the task at hand. K.O. heads to the office and opens the door. Mr. Gar looks kind of surprised.

"Uh, you're the one I'm interviewing for a job?"

"I would recommend holding off on judgement until after the interview. Sorry if my apparel isn't the most business-like."

"Oh no, it's okay! I really don't care about business suits anyway, though you could probably tell from my complete lack of clothing except for pants, shoes, and a tie."

K.O. has a seat in the office and turns to face Mr. Gar, who is straightening out the resume K.O. gave to him.

"So, what are your credentials?"

"Well, I have personal experience cleaning from my mother, who taught me how to make any sort of space practically spotless. You could probably tell by the way the bodega got cleaned while Enid and Rad recorded the time."

"Yes, that was pretty impressive. You certainly have the skill and the work ethic for the job, but I hope you know what we deal with on a daily basis from Lord Boxman."

"Unbelievably well. He could send extremely skilled and strong robots to the plaza at any time. I've actually had altercations with two of them before the interview."

"Wait, two? I only saw you deal with one before."

"Well, in between the fight with Darrell and this interview, I had confronted another Boxmore robot. One calling himself Shane Arca."

"And is there any proof of this altercation I could look at?"

"Actually, there is. Enid managed to make a recording of the fight on her phone, per my request. It should be in your inbox."

Mr. Gar checks his inbox and sees the unread email from Enid. He clicks on the video and watches it. He is amazed that K.O. could perform at this level and is kinda proud of him. At the same time, however, he is kinda worried that Lord Boxman could produce such powerful robots. If he is to make sure that the glorb tree underneath the plaza is safe, then he will need all the help he can get. Even from a little kid that can help.

"This is very impressive, indeed. I just have to check with your mother first and then the job will be guaranteed."

"I'm glad things are working out this way, Mr. Gar. So what do I do now?"

"You can wait with Enid and Rad until I get back with you."

"Sounds great!"

K.O. and Mr. Gar emerge from the office and separate. K.O. heads to Enid and Mr. Gar heads to the Dojo. K.O. is excited to share the news with his friends.

"I'm so close! All that needs to happen is for my mommy to give the go ahead and I'll be an employee here!"

"That's great to hear, K.O.! I assumed he was impressed by that video I sent him?"

"Yes he was! But he also looked kinda worried at the same time. I think he knew what sort of threat Shane Arca held to Lakewood Plaza Turbo."

"Either way, good job, buddy!"

"Thanks! Do you think that we could do a little bit of training while we wait?"

"Sounds like a plan to me! Let's go, Rad!

Rad gets up and walks with them to the back of the bodega. He wants to show off to them and see if he still measures up. As this is happening, Mr. Gar is going to talk to Carol about giving the boy a job.

"Hey, uh, Carol! How are you doing today?"

"Hey, Eugene! I'm actually doing pretty good myself! My students managed to cross a few more milestones today, and Punching Judy just did a lightning round of Her future matches. I mean, they had to make everyone in the audience sign waivers before the match, but Judy will be able to babysit in the future, so K.O. won't need to come with me here!"

"Hehe, about that…"

"What is it, Eugene?"

"Oh, it's nothing. Just that K.O. might have applied for a job at my bodega and I may have accepted."

"Not that I'm complaining here, but why?"

"Well, he is rather skilled at cleaning, for one. He says he got his skills from you!"

"I am a damn good teacher when it comes to everything I do! But continue."

"Second, he held his own against a Boxmore robot quite nicely."

"I don't know what you saw in K.O. against Darrell, but he wasn't himself that time."

"Oh no! I am not talking about that fight! I'm actually talking about a different fight altogether."

"There was another fight?! When?!"

"Before the interview. Enid actually sent me a recording of the fight. Apparently, it's against a boxbot named 'Shane Arca.' Wanna see?"

"Sure."

Mr. Gar plays the video and the two of them watch the confrontation between K.O. and Shane. Carol is impressed by the fight choreography K.O. is executing, as well as the strategies he is employing against Shane. As they engage in the beam struggle, however, something clicks.

"That explains the sound I heard outside a while ago!"

"There were violent noises outside and you didn't think to check?"

"I thought it was under control! Also, I was busy with teaching my students a new technique!"

"Riiight. Anyways, I was kinda worried about the firepower of this robot and your son looks like he could be a major help in dealing with them."

"I don't know, Eugene. He's just a kid, and I'm not sure he's ready for the responsibility of a job yet."

"I assure you that he is! Can you please give your blessing so that he could work here?"

"Oh all right. You have the go ahead."

"Thank you, Carol."

As this was going on, the trio were getting ready for a three-way sparring match. K.O. got in a martial arts stance taught to him by his mother, Enid assumed a ninja stance that she was used to, and Rad put up his dukes. As this was going on, Red Action and the rest of the cool teens are curious of what's going on.

"Hey, guys! What are you doing here?"

"Yeah! In case you didn't notice, this is our hang-out spot, so we kinda want you to leave."

"Be nice, Drupe. So what are you doing?"

As K.O. is preparing to respond to the question, Enid decides to respond.

"We're preparing to spar. We thought it would be a good way to pass the time while waiting on the results of K.O.'s job interview."

"That kid got a job interview?"

"I managed to convince Mr. Gar to give it to him. Though the only things ensuring that he gets the job are the fight he had with Shane and the word of K.O.'s mother."

Red Action turns to K.O..

"You mean that fight was you?!"

"Yeah! Lord Boxman wanted to be a jerk and kidnap me, so he sent a boxbot to do it. Instead, I managed to learn something about Boxman, give inspiration to the boxbot, and have a really exciting battle!"

"Good for you, little guy!"

Red Action then pats K.O. on his head. He appears to enjoy the gesture, before remembering that he has to get ready for the match between him, Enid, and Rad. He reassumes the position he had and gets ready to spar.

The match begins. Enid lunges at K.O. with a foot on fire, but K.O. grabs it with a hand covered in blue aura and retaliates with a Power Fist to the face, only for Enid to leave behind a log. Rad binds K.O.'s leg with a psychic beam and pulls him to attack with a Power Poke. However, K.O. manages to bend Rad's finger as he fires and the ray heads to Enid instead. K.O. prepares to fire a point blank Twin Power Fist at Rad, but is caught off guard by 2 fireballs headed his way. One fireball hits Rad in the face and K.O. uses Rad as a shield for the second one. Rad uses psychic beams to make the fireball hit K.O. instead. K.O. blocks with a shield of blue aura, but is knocked to the ground. Rad readies a psychic beam to trap K.O., but he escapes by creating a blue explosion with his hands and running away in the smokescreen. He sees Enid and decides to attack her with a salvo of Power Fists. Enid, however, creates a bunch of shadow clones and counters the blasts. She surrounds K.O. with the clones and delivers ice breath from all sides. K.O. manages to blow the ice breath away with two giant hands and redirects it to Rad. He gets frozen and K.O. decides to deal with the clones one at a time. He fires at every clone except for one. He attacks that clone with a swift punch to the face, but the clone strikes back with a kick to K.O.'s chest. The clones rush in to perform a full frontal assault on K.O., only for Rad to bust out of his frozen prison and fire a bunch of Power Pokes at the clones, damaging them enough for Enid to become one again. K.O. runs to Rad's position with hands covered in blue aura, ready to strike. However, Rad coats his fists in psychic energy in anticipation of the attack. K.O. performs a karate chop to disable Rad, but Rad manages to jump in time. Unfortunately, K.O. jumps up even higher and hits Rad with a Twin Power Fist to the back at close range. Enid runs at maximum speed and hits K.O. in the gut with a high speed Power Foot Fireball. Rad decides to take the opportunity to hit Enid with a Power Poke barrage to the face. The three are lying on the ground, beaten and breathless, when they decide to stop the match. K.O. speaks first.

"Guys, I think we're about equal in strength. What do you think, Enid?"

"Yeah, that match was pretty back and forth. How 'bout you, Rad? Ready to call it a day?"

"For the record, I was totally winning that fight. But I think we deserve a break."

The cool teens looked on at the fight with astonishment. It was the first time they had seen such an intense fight up close. Red, in particular, looked infatuated with Enid. Drupe decides to tease her about it.

"So, did you enjoy the fight, Red? Or were you just enjoying Enid?"

_(blushing prominently)_ "Uh, I think that was a good fight! I mean, I wasn't focused on any single fighter or anything like that!"

"Sure you weren't. Just like you weren't lovestruck when Enid performed that kick."

_(blushing even harder)_ "Sh-shut up!"

The trio of K.O., Enid and Rad head back to the bodega just in time for Mr. Gar to deliver the news about K.O.'s employment.

"Congrats, K.O.! You got the job!"

"I did?! Hooray!"

As Mr. Gar presents him with the spare vest he keeps just in case of a third employee, Enid and Rad smile warmly at the occasion. They will get to know better over the course of his employment here and they could not be happier. Once the formalities are out of the way, Enid and Rad show him what to do around the bodega now that he works there.

"Make sure to do your job well and be ready to fight if you need to. Got it?"

"Got it, Enid!"

**We Messed Up**

K.O. has literally finished cleaning everything in the bodega. And everything just outside the bodega. And the people that might come into the bodega. He remembered to ask them for consent, of course. However, he has officially run out of stuff to do in the bodega, so he decides to help Enid with her duties.

"I noticed that there is a huge line in front of you! You want I should take some of the customers and reduce the line? Ring them up, I mean.

"You haven't seen how unpleasable these customers can be sometimes. But sure."

Enid persuades the customers to split into two lines. One for Enid, one for K.O.. They start to go through the lines. Enid deals with the "easy" customers, and K.O. deals with the "hard" ones, knowing they would be difficult. When Pird comes to him and asks questions, K.O. gives him a list of websites to go to when he needs answers, while telling him how to go to these sites. When Ginger comes to him and decides to pay in pennies, K.O. takes the pennies, gets out a scale, weighs the pennies, and divides the result to determine if there were enough pennies. Enid looks dumbfounded.

"Why did I not think of that?!"

K.O. and Enid manage to clear both lines in a short amount of time thanks to K.O.'s creative solutions and Enid giving tips on efficiently ringing up customers. As they breathe a sigh of relief, they realize that they also have nothing to do. K.O. comes up with a solution.

"Why don't we help Rad with his duties so that we don't have to wait for him?

"Sounds good. Cooperation hasn't failed us yet."

They head over to where Rad is and ask if they can help.

_(in unison)_ "Want some help?"

"Okay."

They manage to make the process of restocking efficient, with K.O. creating a bunch of aura hands to deliver items to where they need to be, Enid producing a bunch of shadow clones ready to kick items into place, and Rad unpacking the boxes so K.O. can deliver the contents. They are amazed at how quickly they did it. Rad comments on it first.

"I literally can't believe we did that so fast."

"I know what you mean. This is the first time we haven't had any work to do in a while. It kinda feels good, weirdly enough."

As they are contemplating how easy it is to do stuff with the right mindset, Mr. Gar appears out of nowhere to deliver some news to the employees. Enid is kind of jealous that Mr. Gar can appear out of nowhere better than her, a ninja.

"Bodegamen! I have something to tell you all. I have just received a new secret mission and I will not be around for a while. I trust that you will be able to watch the store in my absence."

_(all three, in unison)_ "Yes, sir."

"All right. Make sure not to go into my office, and don't disappoint me."

Mr. Gar walks out of the bodega and into his car. He turns the ignition and leaves the plaza. Enid and Rad come up with an idea.

"Maybe we should go into his office to learn more about him. I mean, if we leave no trace of ourselves, we shouldn't get in trouble."

"Totally. Besides, if Mr. Gar wanted us to stay out of the office, he would have just locked the door and not drawn attention to it."

K.O. looks concerned, but he is curious about Mr. Gar's past, as well. He decides to follow them and see what happens. They walk to Mr. Gar's office. They all recognize the space they were interviewed in and decide to take a peek at his papers, only to find that they are all blank. Enid groans in disappointment.

"We risk our jobs for this and there's nothing to risk it for?!"

"Don't give up hope, Enid! Maybe there's a secret passageway, like in a comic book I read!"

"Thanks for the idea, K.O.."

As they look for a switch somewhere, Rad considers something particularly daunting.

"What do we do if there is a secret entrance? I mean, we've never seen the actual office before, so we're walking in blind to how it was before we saw it. We might screw up the placement of things on accident and be totally screwed."

K.O. and Enid look worried, but then K.O. turns the doorknob on the inside and a secret entrance opens. They jump down it and find themselves at a place with a bunch of computer monitors and the stuff you would find at a regular office. K.O. decides to speak up about the situation.

"So Mr. Gar has eyes and ears on everything in the plaza. He could probably record any happenings in the plaza. Including what we just did."

Enid and Rad become very worried. They are probably going to lose their jobs for this. But they consider that, if they are going to get fired anyway, they should at least see something interesting before they go. Enid fixates on a picture of Mr. Gar and a person of the highest standing, and Rad focuses on a picture commemorating a fight between Mr. Gar and Lord Boxman. K.O., meanwhile, sees a picture of his mother from her superhero days and is curious as to why he has this. So K.O. takes out his phone and looks up "Eugene Gar," with the results showing a "Eugene Garcia" instead. K.O. looks through some paper to confirm that it is Mr. Gar's full name. He finds that Mr. Gar used to belong to a superhero group called P.O.I.N.T., the same group Carol belonged to when she was still active, before being dishonorably discharged from his duties for some unknown reason. He decides to investigate further.

"Hey guys, do you think you can remove recordings our deeds from the computer? I'm going to do some detective work."

"Good idea, K.O.! We could probably delete the recording or at least edit it to something more feasible."

"Thanks, Enid!"

He heads out of the office and decides to head to the Dojo. He wants to ask his mother about what had happened with Mr. Gar and P.O.I.N.T., specifically what caused him to get discharged in the first place. He enters the Dojo and Carol is in the middle of teaching something to her students. He waits until she isn't busy to ask his question.

"Mommy, did you used to work with Mr. Gar in P.O.I.N.T.?"

"K.O.! Why yes I did! Why do you ask?"

"Well, I looked him up online, and it said that he was kicked out of P.O.I.N.T.. For what reason would Mr. Gar be kicked out of a superhero team?"

Carol looks saddened by the thought of what caused Mr. Gar's discharge. That incident contains some bad memories.

"It's… complicated. You wouldn't understand."

"That doesn't mean you should keep it from me! If anything, this might be something to help me understand the world better! I don't keep anything from you, so you shouldn't keep anything from me."

Carol considers his statement and decides to tell him what happened. After all, it wouldn't be wise to hide information from her own child if he is legitimately curious.

"All right. I'll tell you what happened. The story takes place before you were born…"

Carol had met Mr. Gar when he was known as "El-Bow" and she was still called "Silver Spark." They were recent recruits to P.O.I.N.T. and had been accepted into the team for their exceptional abilities. She had applied for the position and El-Bow was recruited because of his great showing in various wrestling matches. The other team member introduced alongside them was Rippy Roo, a kangaroo with a separate dimension within her pouch that stores a versatile array of items. Together, they had managed to make names for themselves, and Carol even managed to get in a relationship with her idol, Laserblast. El-Bow had an obvious unrequited crush on Silver Spark, however, and was kinda bummed when he found out that she was dating Laserblast. Rippy Roo didn't really have any romance issues, but only because no one in the team really shared her interests. Everything was going fine for the team as a whole… until Greyman got his powers nullified by something he brought from a reconnaissance mission. After that, Foxtail assigned Laserblast, Silver Spark, and El-Bow to raid the donut store the Depower Sphere was taken from. El-Bow had a strategy planned to make sure that loss of life was prevented and injuries were minimized while completing the goal. Unfortunately, Laserblast decided to be a total idiot and go in alone, which irked Sparks and El-Bow to no end. Silver Spark figured that no amount of complaining would persuade him not to commit suicide, so she let him loose. Afterwards, however, she vented her frustrations to a very patient El-Bow.

"I can't believe the nerve of that guy! He always does this on missions, even when given direct orders from Foxtail not to! Did you know that his stomach received 27 perforations from a claw monster he confronted? It's true! He had to take 3 health potions to fix the damage! I think it can't get any worse, but then the monster shows his face a second time! Does Laserblast confront the monster with a sense of caution? Does he call for help to deal with the monster? Nope! He fights the monster again! And he becomes the human pincushion, again! I had to bail him out with a barrage of Power Fists to distract the monster while Rippy called for backup! He is absolutely insane!"

"It's sounds like you guys are going through a rough patch in your relationship."

"It's more like I give him good advice and he doesn't freaking listen. I wish I didn't have to deal with his bullcrap anymore."

"So you want someone who knows you and wants to listen to you?"

"I guess."

"What about someone that can provide emotional support when you need it?"

"That would be pretty nice."

"And someone with no known psychological problems?"

"How do you know so much about what I want in a romantic partner?! Are you like Dr. Greyman?"

"No, I just figured that those things are what everyone wants in a good relationship. And what people should strive to be as a romantic partner."

"I feel you. Unfortunately, some people just have too many problems to either get that or be that."

"I'm sure that you're not one of those people, Silver Spark."

"And you definitely aren't like that either, El-Bow!"

They share a loving glance before the donut shop in front of them explodes in the most violent manner. They both look worried for their comrade, Laserblast. Silver Spark rushes to aid Laserblast, but is stopped by a concerned El-Bow.

"Calm down, Silver! We need to come up with a plan!"

"Laserblast needs our help and you want to waste time planning?!"

"If we go in there too recklessly, we might be falling into a trap!"

"This is not the time to worry about-"

Suddenly, the donut shop levitates in midair before them and shrinks. Silver Spark is left in open-mouth shock before El-Bow tries to relieve the tension with some dark humor.

"Uh, good news, Sparks! There is literally nothing we can do to plan for this!"

"A building does something incredible and that is your best response?!"

As they say this, a black hole comes to swallow the miniaturized building and make it disappear off the face of the planet. Silver Spark checks the ground left behind for any signs that Laserblast is still alive, but she finds nothing. She feels heartbroken. El-Bow goes to console her.

"Silver Spark, I-"

"If I hadn't been stopped, I could have saved his life. If I had gone on instinct, I could have saved myself from this feeling. If I didn't let you stop me with your planning nonsense, none of this would have happened!"

"If we got ourselves killed before we could get to Laserblast, then our deaths would be meaningless!"

"At least then I wouldn't feel pain! Do you know what it's like to have been in a situation where you could have saved the most valuable thing in your life, but didn't and now it's lost forever?"

"I've never really experienced loss before. At least, nothing that was like that."

"Just leave me be. I need to feel sad for a while. Don't worry, I won't be long."

"Of course, Silver Spark."

Cut back to the present. K.O. is enthralled by the story and wants to ask a question.

"So how long did you wait there?"

"About an hour, if I'm not mistaken. During that time, I realized that Eugene had a point when he tried to stop me. I had so much more of my life left to live and it would be stupid of me to throw that all away because of one person. I understood that even better after I had you. If I had died, you wouldn't be born and Laserblast's spirit wouldn't be carried on."

"That's pretty deep. Now what happened with Mr. Gar?"

"After the funeral, and I mean just after the funeral, Foxtail decided to be the hardass and fire him in front of everyone. Even when everyone, including me, objected heavily to it, she was adamant that he would drag P.O.I.N.T. down and that he was unneeded. If you ask me, I think she just wanted to prove to herself that she was still in charge of things, but that's another, way funnier story. In the end, we sort of drifted apart until recently. I wonder why he's so nervous whenever we talk."

"Maybe it's because he's afraid that you still haven't really forgave him for that incident. He might be blaming himself for that fiasco purely because of that moment of hostility. Maybe you should go and smooth things over with him so that you can both move on."

"Maybe you're right. I'll have a chat with him when he gets back."

K.O. goes to check on Enid's progress in the office. He goes down and sees Enid completing something on the computer.

"Hey Enid! Did you manage to get rid of our tracks?"

"Yep. I put certain parts of the video on loop so that it looks like we weren't near the office. We even managed to simulate some dynamic movement! I'm pretty darn proud of what we did, even if it's not really something to be proud of."

"Good! Now that our tracks are covered, we should probably get out of here and close the entrance. If we stay any longer, we might be totally boned!"

They nod in agreement and decide to head with K.O. to the counter. Enid is amazed that there are no customers waiting at the front.

"I literally can't believe no one came while we were gone."

As they relax, Mr. Gar's car arrives just outside of the bodega. K.O. gives his friends a few tips on how to not look suspicious.

_(quietly)_ "Just be relaxed and don't bring up the topic of the office."

Mr. Gar comes in to the bodega and sees his employees conversing with each other.

"Bodegamen. I trust that you managed to hold down the fort while I was gone?"

K.O. decides to speak up.

"The bodega did not leave our sight for a moment."

"Wonderful. Now get back to work!"

_(in unison)_ "Yes, sir!"

The thought of Mr. Gar finding something they missed briefly crosses their minds before being pushed down to keep a handle on their acting. Then Carol appears in order to have a conversation with Mr. Gar.

"Hey Eugene."

"Uh, hey Carol! How may I, er, help you?"

"Maybe we can have a private conversation. Just you and me."

"Okay…"

Carol comes with him to the fake office and talks about the events that happened that day. As they look on, their realize that they need to get to work. K.O. suggests something.

"If one of us gets done with our tasks, they help the others get done, okay?"

_(both)_ "Okay!"

**Jethro's All Yours**

K.O., Enid and Rad are attempting to create new techniques. Enid is trying to summon some form of beast to perform an attack. Rad is trying to form his psychic energy into a sphere to launch at his opponents with explosive force. K.O. is trying to create a blue lens and eyeball that can let him see anywhere the eyeball is pointed at. However, their concentration is broken by an alarm signifying an incoming Blind Box. They rush outside to greet the boxbot with a chilly reception, but it turns out to be Jethro.

"I am-"

"Element of surprise!"

K.O. fires a Power Fist at Jethro, swiftly ending the life of the robotic "menace." He then decides to inquire to Enid about the recent boxbot, Jethro.

"He was beaten in one attack. One attack that continued onward past the rubble. Why is it that Lord Boxman built a robot with the durability of tissue paper?"

"No idea. In fact, I have no idea why people are even buying Jethro. Maybe a robot's sentience is proportional to their strength."

"I don't think robots work that way, but good guess!"

As he says this, an army of Jethros approach him. K.O. sighs and fires a Power Fist in their direction, guiding the fist to the robots so that it would hit all of them. K.O. is incredibly disappointed in Lord Boxman. He figured that after the Shane Arca fight, the boxbots would only get harder from there.

"Hey, Lord Boxman! You've got things wrong here! Your minions are supposed to increase in strength, not go down!

Enid looks really amused by the one-liner before being interrupted by a car-sized Jethro rolling along. He rolls over a car and crushes it. K.O. has something to say.

"Oh? See, that would be intimidating if you were, well, intimidating."

K.O. doesn't even bother with the aura and ends his life with a simple chop. Enid and Rad look shocked at the gesture. Enid speaks up.

"You didn't even bother to hesitate with these Jethros! How come?"

"Well, I'm trying to be a great hero, and great heroes just beat villains and save people, right?"

"K.O., you can't let your life be solely defined by one singular goal. Life has far more to offer than that! Like hobbies, and romance, and education, and so much more! If you only focus on one thing, you might lose sight of these other things."

"If you say so, but it doesn't seem like there should be much more."

Just then, a giant Jethro approaches the plaza. It runs over multiple cars to the bitter mood of their owners. K.O. seems excited.

"Looks like Boxman got the right idea! Let's go!"

The three approach the giant Jethro and attack. Enid summons a giant newt to breathe fire on the Jethro. Rad ruins its tracks by sending explosive pulses to them. K.O. creates the eye in order to get a better view at Jethro's insides and destroy them with shots fired from the eye. The Jethro is demolished and the team breathes a sigh of relief before K.O. says something.

"Jethro was so focused on going that one path that he didn't do anything about us. We kept on hurting him and he was unresponsive. I guess that's what can happen if you focus too much on one goal."

"I understand why you only thought life had one goal, but humans are complex creatures. We have the capacity to change and grow with time. Those that only do one thing just get left behind, I guess."

The trio walk towards the bodega to the disdain of Lord Boxman.

"Curses! I build the biggest robot I've built in a while and they destroy it. How am I supposed to destroy those heroic pests now?!"

Just then, an Ernesto arrives to deliver news to Lord Boxman.

"Lord Boxman! Someone is calling you and wants to buy a robot!"

"You deal with it, Ernesto!"

"Actually, this guy asked for you by name."

"Then tell him I'm busy!"

"He said to tell you that throwing a tantrum over Mega-Jethro being destroyed doesn't count as busywork."

Lord Boxman is a bit surprised at that. How could a villain possibly know something that just happened in the Neutral Zone? He decides to see what this guy is about.

"Give me the phone, Ernesto."

Lord Boxman takes the phone and talks to the person on the other end.

"What business do you have eavesdropping on my supervillainy?! The Mega-Jethro thing hasn't even made the news yet!"

"Hey there, Lord Boxman. Let's just say I've been keeping an eye on the Neutral Zone for quite some time now. Waiting for something."

"Whatever. What do you want?"

"A robot with a level of -100."

"-100?! Do you know how many resources I need to create something of that caliber?! It's a lot, you know!"

"Don't worry, I'll pay in advance."

"All right. Where would you like it sent?"

"Lakewood Plaza Turbo! Set to attack K.O.!"

"Ooh! You're getting on my good side already! What should I call you?"

"Call me Shadowy Figure."

They hang up and money is wired directly to Lord Boxman's bank account. The amount is monumental. With this, he can attack the plaza with increased strength and vigor. After he's done with the robot, of course. He gives an order to all Boxmore robots below over the PA.

"Attention, robots! An order just came in to produce a level -100 robot! We were paid in advance, so get moving, people!"

The robots down below start work on the order. As they build all the complex machinery, Lord Boxman gets a grin on his face in anticipation for the brutal attack on the plaza that will surely follow.

"This… is a very good day to be a supervillain!"

He laughs off into the night.


	2. Chapter 2

If you've read Chapter 1, you should know what this is a serious rewrite of OK K.O.!: Let's Be Heroes. **Bold** for canon episodes(even with rewrites), _Italicized underlined_ for episodes I added, and leave a review to tell me what I did wrong. Enjoy!

—

_Encounter of Darkness_

While Enid is celebrating a lack of customers and Rad has no more work to do, K.O. is trying to perfect his cleaning skills by repeatedly examining and recleaning the bodega. After the 5th attempt, K.O. decides to ask Enid about how good he did.

"Did I do perfect on cleaning the bodega yet, Enid?"

"You did it perfectly the first time around, K.O.. The other attempts just added unnecessary amounts of clean. I think you consecrated this place against filth for at least a few days!"

"Oh come on, Enid. There is no such thing as doing a job too perfectly."

"No, but there is such a thing as 'doing a job to obsession.' Besides, the skills you had when you got the job appear to be enough."

"No amount of skill would be 'enough' for me."

Enid is slightly unnerved by the comment, but doesn't pay it much mind. She thinks that there couldn't be much harm in not being satisfied with what you can do. As she considers this, Rad comes to be the bearer of good news.

"Guess what? The problems with the POW Card Machine are fixed! That means we can get POW Cards again!"

"POW Card Machine?"

"You've never heard of a POW Card Machine? How have you been getting your POW Cards?!"

"The same way I get all collectible cards. I look for the cards I want behind a glass display case and I negotiate a price with the owner of the store."

"You are such a nerd, K.O.! Anyways, the POW Card Machine is something that can dispense a random POW Card when you put money in and press the button."

"The result is completely random? Why would people use it if they can't guarantee the card they want?"

"Some people like the idea of chance dictating the outcome, but that's a story for another time. The main appeal of the POW Card Machine is the Self-Card feature."

"Self-Card feature? Sounds interesting!"

"The Self-Card feature is a feature of the POW Card Machine that will allow you to get the POW Card with your information on it! All you have to do is insert some money, push the button labeled 'Self,' undergo the retina scan, and you'll get your own POW Card."

"I've been looking for a card of myself for the longest time! I wanted something to track my progress, but couldn't find it anywhere. That's one part of why I got into collecting POW Cards in the first place, actually. You're saying that the machine can give me what I'm looking for?"

"You know it!"

K.O. decides to head over to the POW Card Machine and get that card of himself. He puts in a coin, pushes the 'Self' button next to the 'Random' button, completes the retina scan and retrieves his POW Card. He shows it to Enid in excitement.

"Here's my POW Card, Enid! Do you think my level is good?"

Enid checks the Level on his card and a sense of pride in K.O. enters her. He was Level 4, just like she was. It's definitely an accomplishment.

"Heck yeah, dude! I mean, Level 4 is a pretty high Level within the plaza! And you're younger than I am! Hey Rad! Check out his Power Level!"

Rad looks at the POW Card and is very surprised at the number on there. The fact that K.O. has such a high power level for his age means that he'll surely go places.

"Uh, congratulations! I wonder if anyone here is jealous."

"I hope not! Wouldn't want anyone comparing themselves to me and feeling miserable because of it!"

As they are talking about what K.O.'s Power Level could mean for him, the roof of Boxmore opens up and Lord Boxman comes flying out on his office desk.

"Greetings, plazagoers! I hope I'm not ruining your day with my antics."

"Don't lie to us, Boxman! You love ruining people's plans with your antics."

"Astute observation, Enid. Now I'm sure you're wondering why I decided to leave the comfort of my home in order to-"

"Get to the friggin point!"

Lord Boxman is kind of miffed that Enid would have the audacity to interrupt his theatrics with her backsass, but he decides to let it slide for now. After all, she will get her just desserts when he does "get to the friggin point,"

"I have received an order from a secret benefactor to build a powerful robot. One that is Level -100!"

Everyone gasps in shock. Level (-)100 was unprecedented in their world, so the idea that Lord Boxman could create such a thing was cause for concern.

"And the good news just keep coming! Once the robot has completed his goal, I can use it on whoever I want! And unfortunately for you, his goal is to attack one of you guys!"

People look around for whoever could be the target of attack. No one in the crowd seems like they would be someone to make enemies. Then they remember the bodega and how a Level 11 hero works there.

"His attack target is… K.O.! Come forth, Gigant Model Darrell!"

A giant box then appears from a portal and lands on the ground. The box opens to reveal a Darrell of titanic proportions. The people of the plaza are in a state of shock. The robot locks on to K.O. and delivers a punch in his direction, only for K.O. to have disappeared.

"Wha- how the heck did he escape my punch?! Who is responsible for this?!"

Someone to the right of K.O. pipes up and attracts Darrell's attention. The person is framed by sunlight and holding K.O. in his arms, like a mother with her child. They step forward to reveal that it is a mother and her child. She puts K.O. down.

"I'm not going to let you lay a hand on my child! Nor am I going to let you destroy stuff! If you want a fight, take it up with me!"

"Very well, then."

Darrell lunges at Carol like a blur. The ground under him breaks apart from the force of his footsteps. She assumes a combat pose before being kicked away with barely any effort from Darrell. K.O. is devastated.

"Mommy, no!"

He wells up with tears in his eyes and is lying on his knees in agony. His mother, the person he depended on for most of his life and has formed a close bond with, has been mercilessly hit by Darrell and might not get up.

"Why her? Why did this happen to her? She didn't do anything to deserve this."

Darrell decides to stomp on K.O. to kill him, but K.O. gets replaced with a log at the last second. Darrell is confused at how that can even happen before realizing that Enid must have been the one to perform the trick. He looks towards the bodega and sees K.O. in a summoning circle created by Enid. She speaks to K.O..

"Stay here. I don't want anything to happen to you, and I'm sure your mother wouldn't want that, either."

Enid and Rad go off to fight Darrell. As they do so, K.O. fears for their lives. He knows that if they go against this monster of an automaton, then they will almost certainly die. K.O. tries to get them to run, but Red Action stops him.

"I've got to make Enid and Rad run away!"

"Oh no you don't! Enid told me to stay behind and make sure you don't get hurt."

"Darrell is only after me for the moment! If I can lure him away from here-"

"He's way to fast for that! There's nothing you can do."

As that was said, Darrell blasts Enid and Rad to the ground with one plasma beam, leaving an extremely deep hole in the ground. There are no signs of life in the hole. K.O. is utterly dejected at the sight, falling to the ground in a near-catatonic state. Red Action looks somewhat concerned, but decides to give him some space. K.O. talks to himself.

"My mommy's dead. My friends are dead. I'm all alone. I'm going to die alone. All because I wasn't strong enough to save them. It's all my fault."

K.O. cries as he says that last sentence. Darrell was after him, and they tried to protect him. For that they died. Darrell is looking extremely satisfied with his latest victory when he notices K.O. on the ground and decides to bully him.

"What's the matter, K.O.? Sad because I killed all your friends? Because I killed your mommy? Well that's what you get for making me look foolish! But now I'm on top, and you're just some weak kid who can't do anything against me!"

K.O.'s body emanates purple sparks while Darrell says this, before Red Action, looking truly infuriated, stands up to Darrell.

"Why don't you shut your goddamn mouth, Darrell?!"

Darrell is taken slightly aback by this comment, while K.O. gets somewhat shaken from catatonia by her words.

"Ever since you came into existence, you've done nothing but tear people down! People who have done nothing like that to you! I used to ignore it by saying you had no choice in the matter, but now I'm not so sure! Even when you have a clear advantage over your own creator, you're still a massive dick to everyone you meet! That alone proves that you're one of the lowest scum on the planet!"

K.O. feels touched by Red Action doing this for him, crass though it may be. She hasn't even known K.O. for that long, and she could have just ran from it until she could strike, yet she was willing to chew Darrell out for his actions.

"_Red is actually risking her life to stand up for someone like me. I've never had anyone do that for me! Not until Enid and Rad, at least. Could she be a… friend?"_

After Red Action is finished with her words, Darrell flies into an indignant rage. He yells at the top of his lungs, stomps around, and can barely articulate his words. Like father, like son. Darrell turns to Red Action to share his opinion on the matter.

"How dare you call me scum?! I'm Level -100, now! I'm the most powerful being in this place! Compared to me, you're nothing!"

"Then why don't you come and prove it?! Come and give me the first real fight since I got to this time!"

Darrell pulls back his fist and charges it with green energy, intending to send a wave of utter annihilation Red Action's way. As K.O. witnesses this, he begins to worry that Red Action will die in front of him.

"_No! Don't die, Red! You're the only one I have left! If you die, there is no one else to be with me! I'll be friendless again! I don't want you to leave me, Red!"_

Purple electricity emanates from K.O. as he thinks those things. Darrell throws a punch, the fist looking like a green meteor of death, only for a wave of purple aura to erupt from K.O.'s body, countering the attack. As the aura clears, K.O. is standing, looking remarkably different from earlier. His headband is gone, allowing his hair to flow down in an unkempt, yet gorgeous style. His skin is somewhat paler, and he had makeup applied to his eyes. His wristbands were purple and had eight spikes each, just like in the first fight between Darrell and K.O.. And also just like that first fight, K.O. rips Darrell's arm off in one swift motion, except this time, flying up to deliver the blow. Darrell has gone from arrogance at K.O. to fear of K.O.. Before Darrell can even try to run away, K.O. slashes off his legs and leaves Darrell lying on the ground in agony. K.O. then charges a Power Fist colored a deep purple and fires it at Darrell, making him explode into countless pieces of shrapnel. Everyone in the plaza is awestruck at the feat while K.O. floats to the ground. K.O. then, softly but notably, cries over the loss of everyone he knew at the hands of Darrell. He buries his face in his hands and lets loose a stream of tears over the tragedy. And then Bell Beefer and Mega Football Baby decide to run their mouths. They're going to die.

"Can you believe that, Mega Football Baby? The little kid's actually crying!"

"My god, he's such a crybaby."

K.O. turns to the duo looking incredibly pissed, tears still streaming down his eyes, and then he suddenly, but predictably, punches a hole through Mega Football Baby's sternum. Bell Beefer tries to run, but K.O. makes sure to cut into him with a large number of slashes. As was predicted, they got what was coming to them. K.O. decides to speak to them.

"Do you think this is a joke?! That you can say whatever you want and not have any consequences?! All my loved one died to some random enemy that I had no control over! Am I not supposed to cry about that?!"

In the sites of Darrell's destruction, P.O.I.N.T. paramedics have retrieved bodies from the wreckage. The bodies move, so they immediately give them medical treatment. They are given health potions and the purple-haired female speaks up.

"Where's K.O.?! Is he injured?!"

Just then, Carol comes walking towards them with a soft smile on her face to explain the issue.

"Don't worry, Enid. He's perfectly fine. But he's in kind of a bad place."

"Wait, wait, wait, you're alive?!"

"I'm not going to let a little kick like that kill me before I've seen K.O. grow up! Speaking of K.O., that incident gave him a lot of emotional trauma and it finally manifested."

"Manifested how?"

"Into this sort of purpley rage that was briefly seen the first time around. It's really soured his mood and he recently killed Mega Football Baby and Bell Beefer."

Enid is briefly shocked at the revelation before deciding that it's probably a good thing those two jerks are gone. Rad, however, doesn't share the sentiment.

"He killed the Rad Squad?! I can't believe that!"

"Like I said, K.O.'s in a really bad place right now. We've got to snap him out of it."

_(both)_ "How are we going to do that?!"

Carol explains the plan to both of them and they run off. They are determined to return K.O. to the way he was. At the plaza, K.O. continues to chew out the two jackasses he just killed.

"And you two have never bothered to do anything productive with your time! Instead, you just hang around all day and call people lame or uncool! People don't want to hear you insult their favorite things over and over! Any questions?!"

The plaza stand silent, still reeling in shock that the once sweet K.O. could be driven to such actions as murder. Mr. Gar, however, is having none of it.

"K.O.! Just because they were jerks to most people does not mean you get to kill them! Killing is a horrible act that should not be committed by anyone to anyone!"

K.O. turns to Mr. Gar and snaps at him.

"What the hell do you know, Mr. Gar?! Have you ever had literally everyone you love die only for some dick to make a joke at your expense about how you show emotion for it?! I had literally no one left and he ran his mouth anyway, so why should I show him mercy?!"

Mr. Gar is taken aback by his comments. He has had people he loved die on him, but never everyone he loved. He understands that the feeling is bad, but that's no reason to start being like K.O. is at the moment. Or is the case more like K.O. lost the reasons to not be like that? As Mr. Gar contemplates this, Carol comes towards K.O..

"Hey peanut!"

K.O. and Mr. Gar turn to her and see that she, along with Enid and Rad, are still alive. K.O. is stunned by the revelation before Carol explains the situation.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there to help you out with your recent problems. It's just that I had to get fixed up from that fight. And to explain the situation to Enid and Rad. But don't worry, because we're all here for you, and we'll be there to make sure you feel alright."

K.O.'s eyes well up from tears of joy that his loved ones are all right. He smiles sweetly and talks to them.

"You guys… you're all right… thank you…"

K.O. passes out but is caught by Carol. She holds him in her arms and waits for him to wake up before talking to him. She greets him with a smile.

"Hey there, K.O.. I hope you slept well."

K.O. then begins sobbing into her chest and expressing the pain he went through.

"Oh-ho god, it was horrible! First I thought you were dead, and then I thought Enid and Rad were dead, and then I thought Red Action was going to die, and then I snapped, I killed Darrell, then I killed two innocent people, and I disrespected Mr. Ga-ha-har!"

Carol makes sure to comfort K.O. when he needs it. She understands that he is getting more independent but that he is still a human being and needs emotional support just like everyone else. Then K.O. says something else to her.

"Mommy… I'm scared of this thing inside of me. I can't control it and when it comes out, people get hurt. I don't want to hurt people. It just feels terrible."

"I know, sweetie. I know that you don't want to have this thing inside of you. But sometimes, we just have to find a way to deal with whatever horrible things we have and make the best of our situation. I'm sure that you'll find a way to put this mean affliction on a leash and make yourself a better hero!"

K.O. smiles as she says this. Those words were just what he needed to hear from her. He feels safe now that she's around. He asks to be put down and manages to compose himself before walking to the bodega and his friends. He walks over to Enid and Rad and finds them talking to Red Action. He inquires about this.

"Hey guys! What were you and Red talking about?"

"Funny story. Red Action was talking to me and Rad about what it was like being friends with you. We obviously told her about all the nice things that come with it."

"Why would Red Action ask about those things? She hasn't really looked interested in that before."

At that moment, Red Action decides to weigh in on the matter.

"When Darrell had… hit Carol, Enid, and Rad, I saw how devastated you were when they were gone, and I guess it reminded me of a few times from the future when I had no idea what happened to my teammates. So I'd like to ask this of you."

Red Action goes down on a knee and affectionately puts her hand on K.O.'s shoulder.

"K.O., would you like to be friends with me?"

K.O. feels happy at her request. He was right about her all along. He responds with warmth in his voice.

"Yes."

Red Action smiles and takes K.O. in for a hug, with him returning the favor. Enid and Rad join in on the hug with no objections from either Red or K.O.. Everyone is happy and all is well. At the plaza, that is.

At Boxmore, Lord Boxman is having a hissy fit over the outcome of that fight. Mainly that not only was he deprived of a potential resource to destroy the plaza, but his robot was humiliated by K.O., no one actually died as a result of the attack, and K.O. managed to build up even more friendship.

"I can't believe those meddlesome heroes! That big Darrell was completely ineffectual! When I get my hands on them, I will murder them all!"

Lord Boxman's phone starts ringing and he flips out as he answers it.

"What the hell do you want?!"

"What I want is to compliment you on your work."

It's Shadowy Figure, the man that ordered the Level -100 robot in the first place. Lord Boxman gets nervous and manages to answer.

"Sha-shadowy Figure! Sorry I said that to you! It's just that I'm kind of in a bad mood because of my evil plans getting ruined by people I don't like to look at."

"I know that feel."

"Anyways, I'm sorry that the robot wasn't able to do what you wanted it to. I'll be sure to make it up to you."

"No need, Boxman. It served its purpose well enough."

"Come again?"

"To tell you the truth, I knew that your robot wouldn't stand a chance against the dormant power that resides within K.O.. I only mentioned it killing K.O. as an excuse."

"Then why did you order the robot in the first place?"

"Two reasons. One, I wanted to get K.O. to unleash that dark power hidden within him. I have special plans that need that sort of power. The robot managed to do that just fine, like I expected."

"And the other reason?"

"The second reason was one that had quite the unexpected result. It was to see if you were actually capable of creating a Level -100 being. To my surprise, you did. The robot was an unprecedented feat of engineering that has never been replicated by man before. Even if the robot ultimately went down, I could see that it was every bit as powerful as I had ordered. Good job."

"Why thank you, Shadowy Figure! Though I must ask what you plan on doing now."

"At first, I was just going to confront K.O. on my own and not talk to you again. But after seeing what you are capable of, I think I'd like to make an agreement with you."

"And what sort of agreement is that, Shadowy Figure?"

"You develop brand new technologies that I tell you to, by the time I want them, and I'll provide unlimited funding for your endeavors."

The thought of what he said sounds exciting to Lord Boxman. After all, if he had an inexhaustible source of revenue, he could easily avoid the ire of his board of investors for attacking the plaza and get back to expanding his company. He decides to accept the proposal.

"Sounds good, Shadowy Figure! So what's your first order for me?"

"A new line of robot. One capable of creating hard-light projections exceeding normal technology by leaps and bounds. Once you're done, send the specs to me so that I can sell the technology to people willing to buy. You'll get a 10% commission of what I make off the technology. Deal?"

"Deal."

**Sibling Rivalry**

K.O., Enid, and Rad are standing against Darrell and Shane Arca. Both sides are heavily beaten, but the heroes have an upper hand. K.O. steps behind Enid and Rad to deliver a full charge Twin Power Fist to the robots. Enid adds a Power Foot Fireball to the left projectile heading to Darrell, while Rad adds a Power Poke to the right projectile heading Shane's way. The hits connect and the two androids are blown to pieces. The trio are celebrating. K.O. decides to be the first to give out congratulations.

"You guys were amazing in that fight! Enid, you had your wicked jutsus and fireballs that really messed with them! And Rad, your psychic powers really had them on lock!"

"Thanks K.O.! But my jutsus wouldn't have been able to hit if they weren't busy dodging your endless barrage of Power Fists."

"Yeah! And as cool as my psychic powers are, I kind of need the people I trap to not move around too much, which your Power Fists pulled off like a charm!"

"Thanks, guys! So, we should probably get back to work and finish as soon as possible."

The two agree and set out with K.O. to do everything they need to do. K.O. manages to reduce his cleaning time to 3 minutes, Enid took notes from K.O. and increased her efficiency with the counter, and Rad makes sure to take the entire stock with him and restocks multiple at a time. They finish their duties speedily and get on with helping K.O.. Ever since the attack of Gigant Model Darrell, K.O. has been taking up meditation and research to figure out how to control whatever is inside of him. Enid is helping him with researching similar cases to what happened with K.O. and how those cases were resolved, while Rad is helping him with researching a combination of biology, psychology, neurology, and spiritualism to examine just what this dark power actually is. Both are helping him with meditation so that he can remain calm and focus on using this power without losing himself. As this is happening, however, Lord Boxman is putting the finishing touches on the robot Shadowy Figure told him to create. He completes the robot and sends the specs over to Shadowy Figure. Lord Boxman calls his children over to his office.

"Children! I've got something to tell you!"

Boxman's children enter the room. He sees Darrell, Shane, Jethro, and Ernesto, before realizing that Shane was in the group.

"I'm afraid Shane Arca is not involved in this conversation."

Shane promptly leaves and after a while, Shannon enters the room. Lord Boxman smiles.

"Better. Now, the thing I want to talk to you all about is a new addition to the family."

_(all four robots)_ "What?!"

"Yes, I know that this change is sudden and unexpected, but I was talking to a guy I know and he said that he wanted me to have another child, so I did my best and here we are."

Suddenly, Darrell decides to voice his opinion.

"Is he the same guy that ordered a Level -100 version of me? Because we all know how well that worked out."

"Silence! Anyways, I'd like you to meet my new child, Athame!"

Just then, a plume of dark blue smoke appears and envelops the room. As the robots recover from the surprise, a mysterious silhouette appears in the smoke. The person is revealed to be someone with long indigo blue hair, stage magician attire with a pattern on everything but the undershirt that makes it look like it is made of sapphire, azure blue gloves with intricate magic circles on the back, and a Medico della Peste mask colored white with blue highlights. Darrell turns to Shannon.

"Uh, what's his deal?"

"Apparently, he's an enthusiast for the color blue."

At that moment, Athame gives a speech with a voice smoother than silk.

"Greetings, my audience! I am the uncanny, the mystical, the fantastic Athame! Are you prepared to witness a show the likes of which you have never seen before?!"

Before they can answer, Athame snaps his fingers and the smoke around them develops a cosmic design, making it appear as though they are actually in space. To the shock of each robot in the audience, they and Boxman start floating in the area. As they do this, Athame produces a magic wand from his hands and it emanates a blue light. A rectangular box appears from the center of a nearby galaxy and floats in front of the audience. Darrell suddenly disappears to the horror of Shannon.

"Darrell, no! Athame, what the hell did you do to him?!"

"Relax, Shannon. Your brother is unharmed. In fact, I'll prove it to you."

Athame opens the box on the side facing the audience and reveals Darrell, looking dazed and confused. Then, Darrell is split into a cross-section. Shannon tries to say something, but finds that her voice is muted. However, Darrell is still functional in spite of his split. Athame then alters the nature of the split so that the cross-section changes to his whim. He then reunites Darrell's two halves and makes Jethro expand to the size of a star. Jethro then goes supernova and envelops everyone in a massive explosion of plasma. The sights of everyone are dark. They wonder if Athame decided to kill them. Then they all pop back into the office. Athame is looking for a rating of the performance.

"So, on a scale of The Magician to The World, how was my performance?"

"I had to watch my brother get bisected, Jethro get turned into a bomb, and after all that, I had to experience what death feels like!"

"Would that be The Devil, Shannon?"

Lord Boxman wishes to congratulate Athame on his performance.

"Oh forget Shannon, Athame! She's just jealous that she can't do what you do."

"Yeah, Shane Arca would be much more receptive to my performance."

Lord Boxman is slightly nettled by the comment, but decides not to pay it any further attention. He points to the plaza.

"Athame, I need you to use all of your powers to get rid of the plaza for me. Especially those bothersome kids at the bodega!"

"So you want me to put on a show designed to threaten the lives of everyone in the audience! How very interesting!"

"I trust that you'll be up to the task?"

"Lord Boxman."

Athame takes off his mask, revealing a face with very handsome features, teeth that are serrated but perfect every other way, and bright magenta eyes designed to stand out with the rest of his appearance. He looks Lord Boxman in the eye.

"I promise that, when you send me out there, I will give the most exciting show of all time, the climax of which shall be the end of Lakewood Plaza Turbo."

"Excellent! Don't disappoint."

Athame puts the mask back on and Lord Boxman makes a box go around him. The box disappears in a puff of blue smoke. Shannon prepares for something crazy to happen, but nothing happens. She turns to Lord Boxman.

"Do the smoke effects go with everything he does or…"

"They're a favorite effect of his, so yes."

Back at the plaza, K.O. and Rad find something that could help K.O. extensively. A research paper called "Metaphysiology of The Inner Malefactor" that deals with the function of the evil side hidden within a person, as well as what brought it to being in the first place. It is over 350 pages long, so they can't really get into it during working hours. Instead, K.O. and Rad decided to visit the library after work. Enid is coming along to see more cases of something like K.O.'s in the library, if they have anything she hasn't checked yet. As they make these plans, however, a Blind Box falls to the ground as they plan these events. When they get to the box, it opens, revealing Athame in his mask and brandishing the wand from before.

"Welcome, welcome, welcome to my wonderful and climactic magic show! Prepare for feats of disappearance, transmutation, and cessation of existence! I always deliver."

Enid wonders who this strange magician guy is and decides to ask him.

"Who exactly are you? Because I'm not sure if we've ever seen you at the plaza. Or literally anywhere."

"I am Athame, a Boxmore robot designed to perform fantastic works of legerdemain! Watch as I amaze you with my magical might!"

"Dude, your lame little stage magic isn't impressing anyone. I mean, besides K.O., but that's because it's something new to him."

Athame is slightly incensed by this comment. He is able to literally make people believe they're in space and then dead. To say what she said is an insult to his talent. But then he considered the last thing she said.

"Something new to you… by Jupiter, I think I've got it! I'll defeat you all by doing something that no one else has done before! Taking you to another dimension!"

The trio look slightly worried by what he said. What does he mean by "another dimension?" Is his claim genuine, or is it all smoke and mirrors?

"But before I do that, I think I'll start with some general crowd-pleasers. For example…"

Athame jumps up to the sky and aims his wand. The tip of the wand develops a rainbow-colored glow.

"Firework Shower!"

At that moment, the wand releases a salvo of multicolored fireworks that explode into a large variety of vibrant shapes upon contact. K.O. and Enid manage to duck and weave around the shots, but Rad gets hit in the chest, temporarily making him immobile. Athame uses the opportunity to encase Rad in a lapis-designed box, taking him out of commission indefinitely. Athame turns his sights to Enid and he says the following incantation.

"Seasons of growth, ever changing. Essence of plants, connect to Earth. Arms of chaos, molding events. Bring yourselves to my allegiance!"

After the incantation was finished, a garden of vibrant and colorful, but deadly plants sprung from a burst of blue smoke. They grew towards K.O. and attempted to grab him, but he managed to hold them off with a Power Fist. He ran from the plants and towards Athame.

"_If I can manage to kill that weird boxbot, I can free Rad from whatever's happening to him!"_

He lunges at Athame and delivers a Twin Power Fist at close range. However, a crystal barrier with a pattern of a weird arrangement of shapes forms around Athame and blocks the attack. Athame uses the break in K.O.'s concentration to wrap the plants around his body and turn the plants into the same sort of box Rad is trapped in. Athame turns to Enid.

"What do you think of my abilities so far? I can conjure anything I imagine, whether it be large or small, fleeting or permanent, mundane or extraordinary. My claims of sending you to another dimension don't seem so unlikely, do they?"

"I should probably tell you something about me first, Athame. Something that none of my friends know about."

"I assume it's because of the fact that the victims of my boxes can register no sensory input from the outside that you wish to tell me?"

Athame is lying through his teeth when he says that, of course. Both Rad and K.O. are connected to the fight through Athame's senses, seeing what he sees, hearing what he hears, feeling what he touches, and so forth. But if Enid knew that, then she would never reveal her secret, and Athame simply cannot resist knowing it.

"It certainly helps. What know one knows about me is that I was actually raised to be a witch."

Athame looks fairly shocked at the comment. This ninja also being a magic user? The thought seems quite preposterous!

"You, a witch? Don't make me burst out in a fit of uncontrollable laughter. I have Darrell to make me do that."

"It's true. However, I didn't really want to be a witch. Instead, I wanted to practice ninjutsu, so I kind of got away from magic. In spite of that, I still remember that one of the first few spells I learned was a firework spell and plant growing. In other words, what you've demonstrated is basic magic talent!"

Athame is extremely pissed at what she said. She is devaluing everything he has done to them. So he decides to do something worse. Summon a demon.

"Diabolum et sulphuris adducite mihi monstrum vastitatem potest caedibus!"

A circle of blood red fire appears and opens a gate to a place resembling Hell. A six-winged devil with his chest encased in ice emerges from the portal. The devil lets out a bloodcurdling scream in Enid's direction and a stream of absolute zero hits her and she is encased in a giant blue glacier. The glacier compresses and shifts to a box with the same design as the other two. Athame smirks.

"And now for the grand finale."

K.O., Enid and Rad see the feed to Athame's senses get cut off abruptly cut off. They are filled with dread at the fact that they can do nothing against Athame in their current state. Then Enid realizes that the feed was to Athame's senses. She turns to K.O..

"Did you happen to hear anything I said? Particularly something about my background?"

"Do you mean about how you're a witch trying to be a ninja? Yes, we did."

Enid buries her face in her hands as a gesture of embarrassment. She unwittingly told them the parts of her past she didn't want anyone to know. More importantly, how is Red Action going to react to her being born a witch? K.O. reassures Enid.

"Don't worry, Enid. Being a witch doesn't make you any less of a ninja. In fact, if you figured out a way to enhance your ninjutsu using magic, you could probably be even more awesome than you already are!"

"Thanks, buddy. Maybe I will brush up on a little magic. As something to assist my ninja skills, of course. Just thinking about all the cool stuff I could do with that combination is really lifting my spirits!"

As she converses with K.O., the black void around them gets shattered around them, revealing a world filled with sin, death, and a lack of government.

"Oh god, this place is awful! Enid, Rad, tell me this isn't real! Tell me everything I stand for still exists!"

Rad is frozen in shock at the villainous world they are in. He walks around and doesn't suspect that anything is off about this world. Enid turns to K.O..

"Maybe this is the "alternate dimension" that guy was talking about. A world where villains are dominant."

K.O. reels back in disbelief. He has grown up his whole life believing that, no matter what happens, good was always going to triumph. But now he's stuck in a world where there is no such thing as good. A world where he only has his friends, and no one else ever again. If his friends die, everyone else will be against him. Tears stream down his face, purple sparks fly around him, and his wristbands develop 8 spikes each. He lets out a scream of uncut agony and rage, and a purple aura comes to life. Enid and Rad try to get him to take control.

"It's okay, K.O.! Just remember to tame the dark beast within you!"

"Yeah, and remember to focus your power on a single goal!"

The purple aura recedes to just around K.O.'s body and his wristbands remain spiked. He turns to his friends.

"I'm going to murder Athame. And then you guys'll be free!"

K.O. has formulated a theory on how Athame's power works. The theory is that the world he created is just a well-crafted illusion, and K.O. can escape by going too fast for the illusion to be maintained. He uses flight powers to start traveling at an obscene speed and he suddenly disappears from the evil world. Rad looks over at Enid.

"What do we do now, Enid?"

"The only thing we can do is hope that K.O. is at the plaza and that he can kill Athame."

K.O. arrives at the plaza, only to see 1 in cubed shaped bits and pieces of the whole plaza floating around Athame, who floats a kilometer above the ground. K.O. can barely keep his control, so he'll have to be quick with the assault. He rushes to Athame in order to deliver a karate chop that could decapitate Athame, only for the crystal barrier to show up.

"That cheap trick won't work twice!"

K.O. bursts through the barrier to the shock of Athame and delivers a blow that, instead of cutting off his head, bisects him and deactivates his powers, making the cut up plaza fall to the ground and the boxes containing Enid and Rad dissipate. K.O. takes a deep breath and exhales slowly, dissipating the dark power. Enid and Rad rush to his side and hug him.

"Oh, we were so worried about you! We thought you wouldn't make it back as you! We're so happy that you're okay!"

K.O. warmly smiles and looks Enid in the eyes.

"Thanks for your concern, guys! I actually managed to do it all on my own!"

Rad looks surprised, but happy.

"Really?! That is, like, super impressive, little buddy!"

The trio celebrates K.O.'s accomplishment and go to ask Mr. Gar what to do.

"Well, seeing as the plaza was turned into tiny cubes that broke upon impact with the ground, we certainly have a long while to wait before it's up and running again. In the meantime, you guys can have the day off."

K.O.'s face lights up in excitement.

"Guys, that means we can begin research early! Let's go!"

K.O. runs in the general direction of the library while Enid and Rad run after him and ask him to slow down. Mr. Gar decides to walk towards Carol in order to see how she's doing.

"How are ya holding up, Carol?"

"Pretty good, Eugene. Not only was I saved from being royally screwed at the hands of some weird magician robot, but K.O. got out of his problems with his own power."

"That's great news! Though I am afraid of what could happen if a villain got their hands on K.O. and managed to force that side of him out."

"I know what you mean. The power that robot displayed was beyond anything we could fix with our capabilities, and K.O. was still able to shatter the illusions with sheer force and malice. Put him on the side of evil, and we wouldn't be able to do anything against him. The thought alone scares me. But what scares me even more is that someone will do their best to traumatize K.O. just to make that happen. I don't want my baby to suffer through that, Eugene."

Mr. Gar looks at Carol in a worried manner. That would also be his worst nightmare.

"I won't let it happen, Carol."

At Boxmore, Lord Boxman is congratulating Athame over his technical success at destroying the plaza. After all, what remained of the plaza was destroyed by a very long fall made by Athame's magic fading, so no need to attack for the moment. However, Athame looks incredibly dejected.

"What's the matter, Athame? Does the wound that brat gave you still hurt?"

"I couldn't complete the show. I had the plaza all set up for the grand finale and I managed to put up a barrier to prevent interruptions, but the barrier shattered and the show was put to a halt. Lord Boxman, I failed you."

Lord Boxman is somewhat concerned at what Athame said. His children have failed him before, but this is the first time one of his children failed himself. Unfortunately, someone calls before he can understand how his child feels. He answers and hears a familiar voice on the other end.

"That was a killer performance from your newest addition to the family! I'm impressed, Boxy."

"Oh, I'm glad you liked it, but the child in question is kinda disappointed that he didn't do better, so he's in a downer mood at the moment. Now, what can I do for you?"

"Lord Boxman, that new tech I made from the schematics you sent me has been a smash hit, so far. I managed to get 1 billion technos in the first day! If you check your banking account, I deposited 100 million of them into your checking account."

"You managed to make that much off of something I made easily?"

"That's why we work so well together, Boxman. You can create incredible technologies, and I can sell them for as much of a profit as possible. Through our cooperation, we can easily dominate the weapons market. In return, your… idiosyncrasies won't impede you in expanding your robot business."

"I assume you have yet another assignment for me?"

"Actually, while you have nothing better to do than wait for another chance to attack the plaza, I was hoping to get a lot of assignments out of the way. Nothing too big, of course; just a gun whose bullets travel at light speed, a freeze ray that removes all of the energy from a target, a sword that can absorb any energy it hits, and a time dilator. Because these items might be a little harder to make than last time, I'll increase your commission to 20%. Do we have a deal, Lord Boxman?"

"Of course, Shadowy Figure. I'd be happy to."

**I Am Dendy**

K.O., Enid and Rad make it to the public library. They enter the library and go sit at a nearby table. Rad pulls out "Metaphysiology of The Inner Malefactor" and Enid decides to go to the librarian to ask about whether or not there's information on more cases like K.O.'s. Rad and K.O. open to the introductory page and K.O. reads.

"'On the topic of Metaphysiology, I would like to say that I am baffled at how everyday people ignore how the function of conceptual parts of our being actually affect us. My reasoning being that it can either benefit us in a great manner or be extremely detrimental to us. That is why I wrote this research paper, so that those unfortunate enough to have darker sides to them can both prevent them from hurting innocent people and use them to benefit society.' That's exactly what I want to do with what I have!"

"Then this definitely seems like the book for you. Let's keep reading!"

K.O. and Rad read the text for about an hour and managed to get to page 50 within that time. In those 50 pages was information on how the other side is created. To heavily simplify, the process involves either an extreme stimulus forcing the more negative parts of your personality to split from your mind and become a separate entity or an extended period of time in the developmental stages where the more positive aspects of the personality are reinforced and the negatives are forced to develop separately from the main personality. Rad is extremely weary from the experience.

"Hey, K.O.. I think we should take a break to rest from reading the book and to process exactly what we read. Does 20 minutes sound good?"

"Yeah, that's a good idea."

K.O. decides to head to the fiction section of the library to see if there is anything he would like to read on his personal time. He makes it to the fantasy books and sees a 150-page book that is the first of its series. The title is "The Spellcaster."

K.O. pulls the book from the shelf and walks to the counter to check it out. He gives the lady his library card and the book is checked out for him. He turns to the table Rad is at when a voice beckons him from behind.

"Hello there, K.O.."

K.O. quickly turns around in shock, only to see a girl his age with short, brunette hair, goggles, light green skin, and a mouth that rested in a triangular shape. He greets her.

"Well, hello to you too, um…"

"Dendy. I noticed that you had walked in to the library despite it not being a part of your normal routine."

"That's because I wanted to get into reading a certain research paper with my friend over there."

He points to Rad at the table using his phone.

"We're taking 20 minutes to rest. Though your comment does raise the question of how you knew what my normal routine is."

"I've been… watching you for a while. You aren't like most people your age; or in general, really. Instead of your primary concern being avoidance of failure, you focus more on attaining success. For example, the incident involving you increasing your combat ability at the cost of your mental stability only drove you to find a way to access it without sacrificing mental health, instead of forsaking the power entirely."

"Thanks for the compliment, but I was actually pretty traumatized from the whole incident. I only got the strength to keep going because my mommy gave me words of encouragement to master this thing."

"I see. You also seem fairly withdrawn when talking to other people besides friends and family. I noticed that because you are speaking to me in a formal manner."

"Uh, sorry?"

"No need to apologize. I am only taking note because it is a rather interesting fact about yourself. I wish to know more about you, K.O.."

"I really don't like talking to strangers about personal stuff. Maybe if I also got to know you better, I could tell you more about me."

"That sounds like a fair trade."

They then go over to the table and tell each other about themselves. K.O. begins things.

"I'll start. I don't have a really easy time making friends because I prefer to focus on improving my hero abilities instead of going out and doing social activities."

"I have a similar attitude with my development of technology and software."

"What sort of technology and software do you develop?"

"I create technology capable of advanced scientific analysis most of the time, though I am currently working to make solid holograms more mainstream."

"Solid holograms? What for?"

"A variety of applications, including, but not limited to construction, entertainment, communication, and defense purposes."

"Sounds like something that could benefit a lot of people."

"As for my software development, I've really only made software to let my devices run more efficiently."

"Have you tried going into developing games? That could work extremely well with your holograms to create a super immersive experience! People would love that!"

Dendy smiles and blushes at the thought. Creating games for her holograms does sound like a fun idea. She then remembers to ask K.O. something.

"What about you, K.O.? What do you like to do in your free time?"

"I mainly enjoy practicing fighting moves and working on ways to improve my aura abilities. Watch."

K.O. summons an eyeball made of blue aura and the lens to go along with it.

"I use this little guy to get a look at areas I normally wouldn't have access to. It can phase through walls, send visual information to the lens, and fire aura shots from the pupil. Though it does admittedly go blind for the fraction of the second I fire the shot."

"That is rather impressive, K.O.. Let me show you what I can do with my holograms."

Dendy makes a gesture with her right hand and a holographic directory pops up. She pushes some buttons on the directory and a holographic bird is produced. K.O. is impressed by the technology.

"That is really cool! But where do the holograms come from?"

"They emanate from this backpack I am wearing, which I call a 'hackpack.' It has a wide variety of devices within it, including a projector for solid holograms."

"Neat."

"Thanks, but is there anything else you like to do?"

"I follow online forums for information about famous heroes. I also like to play MMOs and collect POW Cards."

"You collect POW Cards too? So do I! How many POW Cards do you own?"

"About 120, last time I checked. I don't really buy packs so much as look for specific cards."

"That sounds like a good strategy. I mainly buy packs because I enjoy the feeling of joy I get from getting a card I want by sheer luck and the ability to trade with other people to get the cards I want."

"Well, I didn't get into the hobby for fun, at least at first. I got into the hobby so I could find my own POW Card and track my progress towards being a hero. But collecting POW Cards did prove to be fun, so I keep doing it, even though I got my own POW Card."

"Would you like to compare collections, K.O.?"

"That sounds like fun."

K.O. and Dendy open their POW Card collections and lay them on the table. Dendy has hundreds of cards, while K.O. has a greater concentration of rare cards. Dendy diverts her attention to the Level 94 Asuna Yuuki in his collection.

"I'll trade you Oberon for your Asuna."

"Make it Heathcliff instead, and you've got a deal!"

K.O. and Dendy exchange cards, Dendy receiving Asuna and K.O. receiving Heathcliff. Dendy puts Asuna next to Oberon and K.O. puts Heathcliff next to Kirito. They continue to trade cards until they are satisfied.

"I still can't believe you had a Level 94 card in your collection!"

"You had a Level -100 card in yours!"

"Yeah, but only because I did a favor to Argus! How did you get your hands on that card?"

"I won it in a local video game competition. It also came with a Kirito card."

"Touché. But enough about POW Cards; what's your family life like?"

"My mommy's a retired superhero from the hero organization P.O.I.N.T.. She left because of an incident that took the life of a team member."

"And your father?"

K.O. looks away with a melancholic look on his face.

"He was that team member I briefly mentioned."

"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that."

"I never knew him all that well, but my mommy sometimes cries herself to sleep if something brought back that bad memory. What's your family like?"

"My dad is a salaryman and my mom is a sales representative. Other than that, I don't really know if there's anything out of the ordinary."

"Bummer. Well, it was pretty fun talking to you!"

"Thanks, K.O.."

Dendy puts her hand on top of K.O.'s and leans forward slightly.

"I also enjoyed having this conversation with you. You are a joy to be around."

K.O. gets a slight blush as she says that. Rad notices and decides to comment on it.

"You two make an adorable couple!"

"What are you talking about, Rad?"

"Dude, you two talked with each other for a long time, nearly a quarter hour, you have an interest in each other's hobbies, you love being around each other, and you are even holding hands! Face it, you two seem romantically compatible!"

K.O. looks at Dendy.

"Dendy, do you think we could be a couple like Rad says?"

"That sounds like a wonderful idea!"

The two interlock their fingers and look at each other lovingly. The moment is interrupted by a scream from the case files section of the library. K.O. turns to the noise.

"That was Enid's voice! Let's check it out, guys!"

K.O. heads to the site of the scream with Rad and Dendy in tow. They reach the case files and K.O. discovers, to his horror, Enid turned into a stone statue.

"Enid!"

**You Get Me**

K.O. is pondering how someone could have done the horrible deed of turning Enid to stone. He turns to Rad.

"She-she didn't have any enemies besides the Boxmore bots! Why would someone turn her to stone?!"

"Calm down, K.O.. I'm sure there's a way to fix this."

How?! How do I fix this?!"

Dendy embraces K.O. in a hug from behind and comforts him.

"Don't worry. If we analyze Enid, we could determine what caused her to turn to stone, as well as a way to undo the curse."

"Thanks, Dendy. You're really good at calming me down."

"I believe that is something romantic partners do for each other, K.O.."

"Hah, you're right!"

Rad suddenly remembers Dendy's choice of words when describing Enid's condition.

"Wait a second, you said that what Enid had was a curse. As in a magical curse. As in something that could be cast upon us at any time."

"I said that because there is no widely-known way to instantly petrify someone using scientific methods, making magic the only known way to perform this crime."

Rad nervously checks around to see if the person that performed the crime is watching to eliminate witnesses. Dendy reassures him.

"Remain calm, Rad. The perpetrator would not be dumb enough to go back at the scene of the crime. That would just raise suspicion."

Rad breathes a sigh of relief at the information. K.O. contributes to the discussion.

"Do you think Enid could have been brushing up on her magic knowledge and had a mishap with a spell?"

"Not likely. Witch magic is designed to turn objects into obsidian when hit with stone-based transmutation spells, whereas Enid was transformed into steatite, or soapstone."

"That must mean that it was a wizard or magus that did it!"

"Correct, K.O.. But I'm afraid that, without more investigative work, we won't be able to determine who it is."

"Actually, we might. While witches use a bastardized version of diabolic power to cast spells, wizards and magi come into their own magical power through years of hard work and studying, which means that their spells fit their own personal talents. That means we can use the soapstone composition to narrow it down to one spellcaster, or at least down to those taught by someone who uses soapstone."

Dendy is surprised at the amount of thought put into K.O.'s analysis. She didn't expect him to be able to apply this sort of deductive reasoning to a problem.

"K.O., that's… a wonderful conclusion you came to! I didn't see anything like this in my initial observations!"

"Probably because this is the first problem we've seen that can't be solved through mindless application of violence. We need to use our minds to the fullest in order to catch this crook!"

Dendy considers that she and K.O. have more in common than they thought. K.O. turns to Rad.

"Use your telekinesis to check the floor for any traces of soapstone dust. If the spell was cast by the hand, there should be some amount of soapstone dust on the ground as the recoil from the spell. Right, Dendy?"

"Correct. Spellcasters can't afford any skewing of their aim when casting spells, so they find ways of negating it. The most common way is to apply the effect of the spell to themselves in incredibly minor but sufficient amounts."

Rad isn't sure of what they are talking about, but he decides to check the floor anyways. To his surprise, he finds a few bits of soapstone on the floor. They're few and far between, but they still make a discernible trail. He shares the information with K.O..

"I can feel a trail of soapstone on the floor. Follow me!"

The investigation team follows the trail of soapstone dust and reaches the location of the culprit. Unfortunately, there are a bunch of other people in the location, as well. What's worse is that the trail stops before it can point out the culprit. Rad comments on this, with K.O. responding.

"There's no trail leading to the guy that did this! I can't find the guy anywhere!"

"Stay calm, Rad. If he knew how to get rid of the trail leading to him, then that probably means he's either skilled enough to minimize the soapstone produced or that he's done this before and knows how to cover his tracks. Either way, this guy is experienced. I might know a way to flush him out, though. Dendy!"

"Yes, K.O.?"

"I need you to access the printer and print out enough images of Enid for everyone in the room. Don't limit the copies to those of advanced age, or he might get nervous and try to leave by either walking away or teleporting. Rad, I want you to get ready to restrict the hands of whoever I shoot at first. Break!"

Dendy goes to the printer to print out Enid's face, Rad secures a vantage point to bind anyone at the right time, and K.O. places his hand on the ground when blue lines branch out from it and go to everyone sitting down. The lines disappear and blue pupils pop up from the ground locked on the people sitting down. An array of lenses appear next to K.O.'s eye, each one with a different face. Dendy finishes printing out the pictures and starts handing them out to people. The first few people she hands them out to are confused at the image; no cause for suspicion. But then one of the people she hands them out to, a man with a white beard and a blue cloak, sees the picture and reacts with disgust. This man is the most likely culprit! The eye below the man shoots him in the face before he has time to react, and when the man puts his hands on his face as an expression of pain, Rad shoots a psychokinetic beam at him and envelops his hands, restricting them. The three accost him, K.O. asking the question.

"Why did you turn Enid to soapstone?!"

"I don't have to answer you."

"My friend has a vice grip on your primary instruments of spellcasting and that is how you want to respond?"

"Fine, I'll answer your stupid question! If you must know, she consistently ignored me when I wanted to talk to her at the counter."

"Were you buying anything at any time?"

"Well, no…"

"Then she had the right to ignore you! Attempting to occupy the time of someone in customer service for no reason not only wastes their time, but also the time of people waiting on you to finish! If you want someone to talk to, then take the effort to make friends!"

"Don't criticize me, boy! You're supposed to respect your elders! It isn't the only time I punished someone for being a nuisance, anyways."

K.O. is briefly shocked by the comment that man made. He would turn anyone who crosses him to stone? K.O. asks him a question.

"How many people were petrified?"

"What?"

"How many people were petrified because they had committed a perceived offense against you?!"

"Way too many to count."

This man is clearly dangerous. K.O. and friends need to find a way to get rid of his menace before he causes anymore harm. But that's not the issue at hand. The issue is fixing Enid.

"How do you undo the curse you put on Enid?"

"As if I'd tell you that-"

At that moment, the wizard felt his hands being crushed by the psychic power that restricts him. K.O. gives him a stern reminder.

"Vice. Grip. On your hands. Answer the damn question."

"Okay, there is one way to break the spell. I have to be in the mood to do so."

The wizard said that last line with particular smugness, because there was no way to make him in a good enough mood to free a disrespectful teen like that. Then Dendy speaks up.

"So if we were to hijack your mental functions and brainwash you into performing the deed, that would be good enough?"

The wizard feels fearful of this child, considering that she is bringing up a practice known mostly to villains.

"You-you can't be serious. That would be pretty evil of you."

"You trapped someone in a metaphorical prison they can never escape from. I like to think of my actions at this point as methodical, similar to how, when looking for a lost piece of jewelry, you search all of the tight crevices in your home instead of just relying on line of sight."

As they had this conversation, a voice calls out from behind them.

"No need to resort to brainwashing, guys! I'm right here!"

The investigation team turns around and sees Enid standing there, freed from the curse of her soapstone curse. K.O. runs over to hug her.

"Enid! I'm so glad you're okay! I almost thought that you were trapped forever, but thank god I was wrong!"

"I missed you too, little buddy. I missed you too."

Rad and Dendy run over to where the two are and Rad asks Enid a question.

"How did you escape that, anyway? We couldn't figure out anything besides getting the caster to release the spell. And I just realized that I let him go. Great."

"I figured out how to will the curse cured. As for the guy escaping, I'm sure that each of you can punish him if he ever tries that again."

Enid turns to Dendy, who she has not met yet.

"And who are you, little girl?"

"I am Dendy, K.O.'s new friend/romantic partner."

"How great for you two!"

K.O. remembers to ask Enid about her work at looking into cases like his.

"Oh, I nearly forgot to ask! Did you manage to find someone with a problem similar to mine who managed it?"

"Not really. Most of the cases were centered around someone either succumbing to the darkness within or that bad side being used as a pretense to arrest them. This library might be a little biased towards sealing in the evil, anyways, and you seem to want something a little better. How far are you and Rad in the paper?"

"About 50 pages, excluding the introduction. We got there in one hour and then took a 20 minute break, during which me and Dendy met."

"Aww, that's sweet."

"I know this seems like a weird question, but did you find any peculiarities within the section you looked? Like any missing cases or redacted information?"

"I might have seen one of the papers that had a copious amount of whiteout applied. Why do you ask?"

"Someone could be attempting to sabotage our research into my darker half. They could either be trying to limit my power or they're preparing to make me that way permanently. Regardless of the reason, we need to continue our research in spite of the roadblocks. Dendy, would you like to come with me and Rad to read a research paper? I know it's not quite your cup of tea, but…"

"Of course, K.O.! I'd love to spend more time with you! Maybe we can hug again!"

K.O. softly blushes at the comment. He also loves being around her. The quartet of K.O., Dendy, Enid, and Rad head back to the table they had put their stuff at and they resume their research.

**You Are Rad**

The whole group gets back to reading "Metaphysiology of The Inner Malefactor" from where K.O. and Rad left off. Dendy and Enid get a summary of the first 50 pages from K.O. and Rad before they start. They manage to last for about 2 hours and 100 more pages. The second segment of the research paper deals with how the undesirable part of the individual functions. Essentially, the other personality has something similar to a simplified nervous system that it uses to take over the body; the network of information the dark side uses can connect to the actual nervous system and have some sort of control over it. The third section revolves around the thought process of the negative piece of the being. Because the darker side of ourselves is composed of emotions and thoughts considered negative, it is adapted to jump to the worst possible conclusion and to have natural instincts more akin to a ruthless predator than a compassionate human being. It would be incorrect to assume that these dark parts of the mind are incapable of positive thinking, but it doesn't come as naturally to them as it does to regular human beings. The group are really exhausted from having to read this book, with Dendy laying on K.O. and Enid putting her head on the desk. Rad examines the situation and makes a decision.

"Maybe we could spend about 40 more minutes here and then go back home afterwards. Good plan?"

Dendy responds first.

"Great idea, Rad. We can use this time to arrange what we are going to do when we get back. K.O.! Would it be okay if I slept over at your place for the night?"

"That would be fantastic! I'll call my mommy and ask her about making that possible."

"Thanks. I'll call my parents and get their permission."

They both get on their phones and text their parents to arrange the sleepover. Enid can't help but find this cute.

"They're already arranging a sleepover! That's so sweet!"

K.O. and Dendy get back to Enid and Rad with good news. K.O. delivers the news first.

"We managed to get a sleepover in the works! Mommy turned out to be making a ton of spaghetti, anyways! Oh, I probably should have checked if you like spaghetti, Dendy."

"That's perfectly acceptable, K.O.. My parents are just making sure to use my planned absence for a night on the town. While that's happening, we'll be having a night inside."

"All right! But what will we do for the rest of our time here?"

"We could always do what most people do in a library and read a book."

"Oh! I actually have a book we can read called "The Spellcaster," so maybe we can read that!"

"That seems more like something we should read at your place, K.O.. And now that I think about it, I would like to know more about your friends. I got some information about Enid when we hunted down that wizard, but I don't have anything on Rad."

Rad looks at Dendy nervously. He really didn't expect to be asked about his personal life and he hasn't managed to come up with something as an answer. Enid talks to him.

"Dude, just be honest about who you are. We're not going to burn you at the stake for it."

Rad briefly objects, before relenting to Enid's suggestion. He figures that he might as well be honest with his friends, since they wouldn't really mind. He begins to speak.

"One condition for me talking about myself honestly would be not to tell anyone else what I say. Got it?"

The rest of the group nod their heads in unison. Rad continues with his revelation of personal details.

"Okay. Everyone here could probably guess that I am a tough guy of sorts. But what most people don't know about me is that I enjoy being around cats."

K.O. looks at Rad like "of course you like being around cats; who doesn't?" Rad decides to elaborate on what he means.

"To those who would consider that obvious, let me say that being around cats and kittens isn't considered a 'masculine' hobby. In fact, Mega Football Baby and Bell Beefer… the late Mega Football Baby and Bell Beefer considered anything involving kittens lame! That's why I kind of hid that fact about me from most people."

K.O. raises his hand.

"Since those two jackasses are gone, why haven't you just revealed the facets of yourself that were kept hidden?"

"Because I'm still a little subconscious about those things I keep from the world. Even when I buy kitten-a-day calendars, I don't really let people see me get them. Nor do I let people see me perform yoga or babysit."

Dendy raises her hand.

"Why would yoga and babysitting be considered something to not let people see? Yoga is simply a form of maintenance and babysitting is a common way of raising money."

"I didn't really get into babysitting for the money; and yoga is seen as a lame form of 'maintenance' by most people."

K.O. decides to contribute to the conversation.

"Why would you care what other people think? Just because people find your hobbies lame or unconventional, doesn't mean you shouldn't let them be seen. The only way for you to grow as a person is to embrace what makes you you! Don't let anyone tell you otherwise!"

Rad feels inspired by K.O.'s words. Only he can say something like that with any sort of legitimacy. Rad decides to converse with K.O..

"I'll try to make it a habit. And how come you don't tell people about your nerdy hobbies, like MMOs and frequenting forums?"

"Until Dendy, no one really bothered to ask me about them. I actually have some information about my hobbies on my social media!"

"That explains it."

For the rest of the time, the quartet essentially does miscellaneous activities. K.O. gets Dendy introduced to social media, friending her and changing their relationship status in the process, Enid watches anime on her phone, and Rad performs yoga. Enid comments on it.

"Dang, Rad! You are really flexible! Women would probably love that about you."

Rad takes the compliment in stride. 40 minutes have passed and the quartet steps out of the library. The group says goodbye to each other and walks off. K.O. and Dendy walk to K.O.'s house, holding hands, and Enid and Rad go to their houses. Mr. Gar looks on and contemplates the situation.

"_So they have a new friend. She seems like she could be a valuable asset against Boxmore. I'll offer her a job tomorrow."_


	3. Chapter 3

To new readers, read the chapters before this one if you haven't already. But to refresh the memory of veteran readers, **Bold** is canon(w/ rewrites), _Italicized underlined_ are my additions, leave a constructive review. Enjoy!

Sorry for the delay. I'd sack myself, but then this fanfic would be no more.

—

_Sleepover At K.O.'s House_

K.O. and Dendy make it to K.O.'s house. K.O. knocks on the door and waits for the door to be answered. While he waits, he notices that Dendy is extremely nervous about meeting his mother, and goes to comfort her.

"What are you nervous about, Dendy?"

"I'm not certain if your mother would approve of me. Even if I am a hero, and she is as well, there could be some unconscious bias towards kappas."

"You're a kappa? That explains the triangle mouth, at least."

"Not to mention that I am not a physical fighter like either you or your mother. She might not accept me simply out of fear of influence on you."

"She wouldn't reject you because of that! And even if she does reject you, I'll still hang out with you! Because that is what partners do!"

Dendy is touched by K.O.'s words. He said that he would hang out with her, even though his mother might look down upon the relationship. Her fears are alleviated. A little while after he says those words, Carol opens the door and greets K.O..

"Hey, peanut!"

"Mommy! I'm so glad to see you! This is my friend/romantic partner, Dendy!"

"Nice to see that your romantic partner is so cute! Dendy, my name is Carol."

Carol extends her hand to Dendy. Dendy accepts the gesture and they shake hands. Dendy smiles at the fact that Carol is so readily accepting of her.

"Pleasure to meet you, Carol. I'm honestly surprised that you are so encouraging of me and K.O.'s relationship! I was worried that you might reject me for my background."

"Dendy, I am well aware that the majority of bad things said about kappas are misconceptions. Also, you two just look like you work well together."

Dendy is happy that things turned out this way. Carol then invites K.O. and Dendy inside. She leads them to the dining table, puts out some plates, and serves up spaghetti she spent a lot of time and effort on. K.O. takes a bite of spaghetti, and reacts with satisfaction. Dendy takes a bite of spaghetti and… well, see for yourself.

"Oh. My. God! This is such a perfect culinary masterpiece I just ate! The herbs in the sauce, the texture of the noodles, the subtle tones of Parmigiano-Reggiano, it's all delicious! I have no idea how one could make such a delectable meal in the amount of time you had! If a culinary master were to also serve spaghetti here, I might not even tell the difference…"

She sinks back into her chair as she says this, having to recover from such a delicious meal. Carol is extremely satisfied with the results of her cooking. If a little kid could gauge how much effort she put into it, then there is nothing stopping her from impressing someone of more refined taste buds. She decides to thank Dendy for the compliment.

"Thanks for the high marks, Dendy! But make sure to eat it before it gets cold, okay?"

The three manage to get done with dinner in spite of Dendy's… responses to the flavor. After that, K.O. gets ready to take a bath, one desperately needed after the effort exercised against the wizard in the library. Carol gives Dendy an inquiry.

"Do you wanna take a bath after K.O. is done? Or do you prefer taking them in your house?"

"Neither. I gave my suit a filth eraser feature specifically so that I wouldn't have to deal with the hassle of a bath. I'm sure you understand the work it takes to prepare a bath."

"I do, but a bath doesn't necessarily need to be just for cleaning. It can also be used to unwind after a long day. A bath can really relax your body and… get rid of all the tension inside, you know?"

"Maybe I'll consider doing it in controlled circumstances on my own time."

"I don't see any reason why you can't just try it here, Dendy."

Dendy relents and decides to have a bath once K.O. is done. K.O. hops into the bathtub and takes a bath for about 20 minutes before getting out and getting dressed. Dendy prepares a bath, strips down, and gets in the bathtub. She feels immediately relaxed due to the warm water. She adds a few essential oils to the water and enjoys the aromatherapy benefits. She bathes in these conditions for about a half-hour then gets out and dresses herself. She walks out of the bathroom feeling refreshed, something that Carol notices immediately.

"I see you used a few of those essential oils I had in there! So, how was your bath?"

"It was everything you said it would be. Maybe I should show some of these things to K.O. the next time around!"

Carol gives no mind to the comment, as she is sure Dendy didn't mean anything by it. Besides, if they do end up bathing together and "discovering their feelings," then Carol really doesn't see anything unnatural about that. Mental images aside, K.O. leads Dendy into his room to show her a game. He boots up his high-end PC with hand-selected parts, something that intrigues Dendy, clicks on a shortcut labeled "New World Online," and a loading screen pops up. K.O. uses the time to explain what the game is.

"New World Online is an MMORPG, or Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game, that takes place in a fantasy world where the players can choose from 10 different classes and customize their characters. I'd recommend playing it yourself to see what it is like."

"Of course. That is how you see what any game is like."

"Exactly!"

As that was being said, a window pops up, displaying the title of the game, boxes for the account name and password, and the option to create a new account. K.O. gives a small warning to Dendy.

"I should probably mention that it costs about a hundred dollars to buy a physical copy of the game, so you should probably put an account on here."

"I have enough money to buy that game, so it won't be an issue to get it. Though I would like to see you play it first to get an idea of what the game is like."

"Okay!"

K.O. enters his login information and the game comes on. His character is in the center of the screen and all the GUI elements are pushed to the edge and transparent.

"The ten classes are: Fighter, Mage, Cleric, Rogue, Paladin, Sorcerer, Alchemist, Marksman, Inventor, and Psion. Each class has unique abilities and play styles. In addition, there are multiple subclasses you could take. For an example, I am playing a Destruction Mage."

"Interesting. I assumed that a Fighter would be more your cup of tea."

"Well, Fighters don't really have a lot of non-physical abilities, so I chose Mage because of its capability to blast things to kingdom come. But those aren't the only ways to customize a character! There are Special Abilities, Skills-"

"Just play the game already."

K.O. follows and decides to continue progress on a quest he had been on for a while. Dendy notices that the level on K.O.'s character is 60, implying that he had been playing the game for a while.

"I noticed that your character's level is 60, K.O.. How long have you been playing?"

"A year or so. I just like to immerse myself in this world and go on quests. In fact, I do a fair bit of role-playing in this game."

"I figured that the purpose of the game was to role-play."

"It is, but not everyone gets that into it. I, on the other hand, enjoy role-playing. It can be pretty gratifying at times."

K.O. manages to complete the quest in an hour. It nets him a ridiculous amount of gold and experience, as well as a rare item he had been looking for.

"The [Megiddo Staff]! I have been trying to get this for a long time! This will allow me a ton of extra power in casting spells!"

"About that, I noticed that you have a ton of other spells besides the ones you used. How do you get spells in this game?"

"It's different for each Spellcasting class. For Mages, you have to search for the spells and acquire them. For Clerics, you have to go on quests for a deity your character is under. Sorcerers get spells naturally, but not to the extent of the other classes. Inventors must learn to craft certain items to cast spells. Psions must learn spells from a mentor of some sort."

"This seems a little disadvantageous for Mages, considering that they can't just learn spells on their own."

"Well, they can create their own original spells, unlike the others."

"Ah."

"And don't forget about subclasses!"

K.O. continues to play with Dendy watching until it is time to go to bed. K.O. logs off, turns off the computer, and both he and Dendy get ready to go to bed. They turn off the lights, put on their nightwear, K.O. having indigo-colored pajamas and Dendy having striped blue and yellow pajamas, lay down in the same bed, and pull the covers over themselves. K.O. looks at Dendy with a warm expression on his face.

"I'm really glad I could hang out with you. It was fun and I felt really happy being with you."

Dendy also has a warm expression on her face.

"Me too, K.O.. I think we should hang out more often. You know, become closer to each other."

"Same."

They move closer to each other and go to sleep snuggling.

_Now Hiring Tech Support_

K.O. and Dendy wake up to the sight of each other. They both give each other a loving expression. They get up and manage to get dressed up for the day. Just as they do this, K.O.'s phone gets a text message from Mr. Gar. It reads as such.

"_Could you bring your friend Dendy over here? I want to see about interviewing her for a position at the bodega."_

K.O. relays the information back to Dendy and asks her something.

"Any ideas on how Mr. Gar knew who you were?"

"It's quite possible that he followed your/our group for your own safety. Probably to prevent a villain from kidnapping you."

"Fair enough. So what do you think of the proposal, Dendy?"

"I think I will come with you to the bodega after school. Getting a job could be a new experience."

K.O. smiles at the thought of Dendy working with him. After school, both of them walked to the bodega while holding hands. K.O. gets started on his duties, while Dendy gets approached by Mr. Gar for an interview.

"Hello there, Dendy. I-I mean, uh, whoops! Kinda gave myself away there, didn't I?"

"K.O. and I brushed that fact aside. Now what can I do for you?"

"I'd like to give you a job interview, Dendy. I feel like we could really use your skills at the bodega. What do you say?"

"I accept. Where do we go?"

"My office. Follow me!"

Mr. Gar walks towards his office with Dendy not far behind. They enter the office and sit down in the appropriate chairs. Mr. Gar reads her file.

"Name: Dendy, Age: 6-11, you have multiple contributions to the tech industry under your belt and you work as a freelance programmer whenever you feel you can spare the time. That is quite a list of accomplishments, young lady!"

"Thanks for the compliment, but I can tell that isn't the only reason you decided to interview me in person, and I like to know what the other one is."

"You catch on quick! The real reason I want to give you a job is so that we can find a way to disable the Boxmore robots, or at least hinder them in some way."

"I can definitely do that. However, I don't want that to be the only thing I do here. Tell me, do you have any problems with technology here?"

"Sometimes, but-"

"Then I could perform tech support in your establishment! In addition, I could probably make many improvements to the tools used in this workplace. Increase efficiency by leaps and bounds!"

"So I assume that you want to work in the technology department?"

"Precisely."

"Well then, all I need to do is get your parents permission and we're good to go! You can go to your friends and-"

"And wait for the results. I was clued in on the interview process by K.O.."

"Okay then."

Dendy walks out of the office and runs over to hug K.O..

"He was satisfied with my credentials! The only thing that needs to happen now is for my parents to give their consent!"

"Awesome, Dendy! What do you want to do while you wait for the results?"

"I did recently purchase a copy of New World Online. Want to watch me play?"

"I'll do you one better! I took my copy with me and it's in a laptop, so we could play together!"

"Are you sure? I might not help you get enough experience."

"It's okay. Leveling gets really slow later on anyway!"

"That's disheartening."

Dendy activates her hackpack and boots up the game. She logs in to her account and her character, a level 10 Paladin, pops up. K.O. asks about this.

"A Paladin? What made you want to pick that class?"

"I wanted to see what it was like to play the role of the knight in shining armor. So far, I am not disappointed."

"Good answer. Did you run into any problems during character creation?"

"Mainly as far as Special Abilities and all that other jazz. I looked up veritable tips online, however."

"Nice to see that you can find solutions to this without me."

K.O. helps Dendy with leveling up for 30 minutes, her Paladin character getting to level 25 within that time, when a Blind Box falls to the ground. K.O. notices.

"Dendy, how well can you hack into a robot?"

"If I can figure out how to access its files, instantly."

"Then prepare to access some files! Professional tip, they are connected to servers via wireless."

A malicious smirk comes across Dendy's face as that information was revealed. If they use a wireless connection, it will be child's play to infiltrate them. The Blind Box then opens to reveal Shane Arca wearing the jeweled gloves he used against K.O. before his employment at the bodega. K.O. warns Dendy before the fight.

"He is a very powerful robot, strong enough to blast the parking lot to ashes, and he's also a really clever strategist."

"I have a strategy of my own, K.O.. But you'll have to wait like everyone else to see it."

Dendy walks in Shane Arca's direction and he in her direction. They walk to the point that both of them are 10 meters from the center of the lot. Dendy converses with Shane.

"I must warn you that, if you act antagonistic to the plaza or anyone in it, I will be forced to use my technological arsenal upon you. And I don't plan on holding back."

"I would be really pissed off if you did."

"Thanks for the consent."

Round 1. Shane fires dozens of emerald-colored lasers at Dendy, only for them to be reflected by a reflective shield projected from her hackpack. However, Shane used the cover from the lasers to close in and deliver a punch to her left cheek. Fortunately, Dendy anticipated this, and put camouflaged armor over her cheek. She then slipped a small receiver onto Shane's person without him noticing. Shane turns his left hand into a saw blade and swings towards Dendy's neck, only to be thwarted by a solid hologram of a spring launching her up in the air, with the spring being cut by the saw. Dendy is kept aloft by a pair of holographic wings resembling those of a clockwork bird. Shane transforms both of his arms into assault rifles and takes aim at the clockwork angel. Dendy zips around and avoids all the vitriol-colored bullets. She then divebombs Shane in the gut, causing him to recoil in shock. Her next attack is summoning a very tall, muscular humanoid with shoulder pads, long hair, a metal headband, and fingerless gloves. She makes the new projection attack Shane with a barrage of punches, 100/second, directed at the torso, face, and legs. Shane is heavily injured from the attack, but comes up with an idea. He turns his left hand into a living explosive and launches it at the humanoid. At the same time, he turns his other hand into an energy shield capable of withstanding explosive force. The bomb goes off and the humanoid dissipates. Both Dendy and Shane are knocked away from the epicenter of the blast. They stand up and Shane taunts Dendy.

"No matter what sort of abnormal contraption you throw at me, I will be victorious! Your schemes mean nothing to-"

Shane's body locks up and he goes numb. A wave of fear comes across his face.

"Wh-what did you do?!"

"I put a receiver onto your person that tracked where your input was coming from. Once that was complete, it was a matter of using my hackpack to upload malware to your servers. The varying concealment I was given during the fight, such as the assault rifle fire, the punching figure I made, and the explosion, assisted the coding process. Not only are you rendered completely immobile, but so are all other robots of your model."

"You… you fiend!"

"Oh how easy it is to pass blame to someone else when ignoring your own actions. Now then, I believe I was wailing on you with relative impunity before being interrupted by the explosion."

The muscular humanoid returns and continues beating on Shane. The barrage of punches continues until Shane is reduced to small parts. K.O. runs over to congratulate Dendy.

"That was one of the coolest things I have ever seen! You brushed off his blast with this fantastic shield, then you made mechanical wings, then some awesome looking barbarian, and then it's revealed that you disabled his entire line!"

"Lord Boxman will certainly hate that, won't he?"

Lord Boxman is, like Dendy said, absolutely fuming over the hacking of Shane Arca. Thousands of his robots were rendered useless because of the effort of one nerdy kid. How is he going to explain this to his board of investors? They will rake him over the coals if they find out about this. Just then, Shadowy Figure calls Boxman on the phone, with Boxman answering.

"Hey, Shadowy. How are things going?"

"Perfectly! The light-speed guns sold at 10 billion technos, the freeze rays sold at 20 billion technos, the absorption swords sold at 30 billion, and the dilators sold at 40 billion! You get 20 billion of the proceeds due to our contract, and an extra billion from sales of the projectors."

"So sales are improving! That certainly softens the blow from having one of my robot lines completely hacked!"

"Yeah, I saw that when the Shannon you sent me started standing still. But don't worry! I sent an expert over! He'll be there in two hours and everything will be just great! Until then, I recommend using your proceeds to increase your physical capital. You know, improve your machines, get more machines, increase the efficacy of your robots, figure out how to get the materials you need at lower costs, et cetera, et cetera. That will allow you to have better business, make robot attacks on the plaza less impactful on your budget, and give your investors something to look forward to, as well as possibly attract more investors. Understand, Boxman?"

"Yes I do, Shadowy Figure. Yes I do."

Back at the plaza, all tasks are finished and the Paladin character Dendy has is leveled up to 35. Dendy turns to K.O. with a smile on her face.

"I'm thankful that I was able to meet you when I did. If that didn't happen, I wouldn't have all these wonderful experiences!"

"I enjoyed our time together, too! I saw some really interesting things I've never seen before! I also liked waking up to the sight of you."

K.O. blushes slightly as he says that last sentence. Dendy also gets a minor blush when she says the following sentence.

"Yes, that was a really nice experience. You have a surprisingly welcoming appearance!"

K.O. blushes even harder at that point, and looks away in a bashful manner. But before the moment can be carried out, Enid notices something peculiar.

"It's been a while since the interview ended. A really long while. And yet, Mr. Gar is still nowhere to be found."

Rad decides to address the situation.

"He's likely just filling out some dumb paperwork for Dendy's job application. It took a long time for K.O.'s application to get processed too, remember?"

"Yeah, but I'm still worried."

"Relax, Enid! I'm sure that Mr. Gar is totally capable of breaking down any hurdles in his path."

At that moment, Mr. Gar steps out of his office with a regretful look on his face. He walks over to the group to deliver bad tidings.

"I have some… unfortunate news to give you all. I was unable to secure the permission of Dendy's parents for her to work here."

Dendy is shocked at the decision her parents made. They didn't even bother to respect her wishes; instead, they unilaterally decided that she shouldn't work at the bodega. K.O., on the other hand, looks absolutely infuriated at the news that Mr. Gar delivered. Despite his apparent rage, he manages to politely, but very firmly, ask a question.

"Why the hell would they do such a thing to her?"

"They mentioned something about 'injustices a kappa might suffer under a human' and 'no way for us to trust what you say.'"

"So it's an issue of racial politics. Won't this be a fun thing to overcome, guys?"

Enid looks at the rest of the group and calmly responds to K.O.'s blatantly sarcastic question.

"Look, I understand that this is very annoying to you, but I don't think we can reason with such deeply entrenched prejudice as Dendy's parents have suffered."

K.O.'s head turns quickly enough to make Enid somewhat jumpy at the motion.

"I don't care what sort of things we have to do to get it done, but we will make sure that her parents don't get in the way of what she wants to do, justifiably or not."

Dendy interrupts with a well-timed hug that manages to calm K.O. down. She looks him in the eyes.

"I know this is something that upsets you, but we have to approach the situation calmly, or else we won't get anywhere. Besides, you can do what you need to do more effectively when you're calm."

K.O. takes a deep breath and he comes back to his usual self.

"Thanks for the cooling down, Dendy. I know I can count on you to bring me to my senses if I ever lose it."

K.O. wraps his arms around Dendy as he says this, reciprocating the hug Dendy gave him. They share a warm experience for a moment before relenting on the hug and walking towards the door together. Rad asks the two about their actions.

"Uh, why are you two walking out? Aren't you supposed to remain close to this place?"

K.O. and Dendy turn to answer Rad.

"Isn't it obvious? We're going to Dendy's place."

"Trying to argue with them over the phone won't do much good, so we might as well confront them face to face."

Enid seems a little surprised that K.O. would go to such lengths to get Dendy a job. For all he knows, Dendy's parents are completely innocent people. Attempting to fight them, if things ever come to that point, might jeopardize his reputation as a hero. Before she can voice a complaint, Rad sighs reluctantly.

"I'll come with you. You guys need some transportation anyways, and I have a van."

Enid looks at Rad in shock and gives a retort.

"Are you mad?! If K.O. ends up hurting them for what they're doing, who knows what sort of trouble he might get in?!"

"Even if we don't do anything, K.O. and Dendy might just walk there on their own. Or Dendy could produce some sort of really fast vehicle from scratch. Plus, if I come along, I can perform damage control for when it truly hits the fan."

"…You have a legitimate point for once, Rad. I might as well come for the ride and see how things turn out. But if things go horribly wrong…"

"You will get out of dodge, right? That seems like a sensible move."

K.O. looks at them with impatience while waiting near the door, ready to go.

"Do we have everything worked out yet? Because we are burning daylight."

"Me and Rad have sorted everything out."

"Then let's get to Rad's van!"

Enid and Rad go over to K.O. and Dendy. The quartet step out of the bodega and set one foot each on the parking lot. K.O. makes a confident statement.

"When we get there, we will succeed in our mission, no matter what!"

_Showdown At Lily Boulevard_

K.O., Dendy, Enid, and Rad are traveling to Dendy's house, with Rad at the wheel. K.O. is coming up with things to say to Dendy's parents in order to convince them to let Dendy get a job at the bodega. Enid is getting incredibly impatient in the front seat, and conveys this to Rad.

"We've been driving for half an hour, already! How much longer until we get there?!"

"About another half-hour. Lily Boulevard is pretty out of the way, you know. I probably wouldn't even find it if not for this neat little holographic GPS Dendy installed on the dashboard! Speaking of which, thanks for the holographic GPS, Dendy!"

Dendy gives him a thumbs up and turns to K.O..

"So what are you going to say to my parents to get them to give their consent?"

"I'm just going to mention to them the wonderful invention of the legally binding contract. If that isn't enough, then I can point out that magic can force people to follow certain promises. I've also downloaded a few textbooks on law in case I need to come up with something else. The section of the most interest would have to be employment law."

"Understandable given that the argument is about me getting a job in the first place."

"Still, I am a little worried about what could happen if we screw this up. Your parents might get really angry and not talk to you anymore."

"If our relationship gets strained to that point, I am fully prepared to file for emancipation. It would be relatively easy to obtain an apartment close to you."

K.O. gets a look of worry with what Dendy said about emancipation. She didn't look that unsettled at the thought of cutting off all ties with her family, of all people.

"Please tell me that what you suggested is a last resort, Dendy!"

"Of course, K.O.. But I must consider all possibilities when getting a job. And if I need love and affection, I can simply spend time with you!"

Dendy reaches out and puts her hands on K.O.'s. He reacts in a somewhat shy manner.

"Ju-just what do you mean by 'spending time?' We already have a lot of time spent together!"

"I mean in a more intimate manner than before."

K.O.'s face turns bright pink at the suggestion of greater intimacy than before. Dendy chuckles at the way K.O. emoted to what she said.

"Don't worry, K.O.! I wouldn't force you to do anything you don't want to do! I just… want to get closer to you, is all."

Dendy leans over K.O. as she says this and manages to get on top of him, the two facing each other. K.O. gets very flustered at the gesture and doesn't know what to say. Seeing this, Enid decides to talk to them in a hurried manner.

"So, do any of you like music? I have a ton of music on my phone! We can play it on the radio!"

Rad hears this and immediately dreads what's coming next. Whenever Enid is in control of the radio, she plays music that is horribly suited to his tastes. Whether well-known or obscure, he simply doesn't like the choices of music she makes. True to form, she decides to play some band that only she and, surprisingly enough, K.O. know about. Rad sighs.

"This is going to be a long road trip."

The group arrives at Lily Boulevard on time. Dendy's house is moderately sized, and appears to be a combination of western and eastern architecture in aesthetic. The backyard is extensive and features a lot of natural sensibilities. Enid and Rad are awed by the subtle beauty as they walk towards the door, but K.O. remains laser-focused on persuading Dendy's parents to let their daughter pursue employment with Gar's Hero Supply and Bodega. He rings the doorbell and waits for a moment before Pepelina opens it and greets K.O..

"Oh, I wasn't expecting you to be here, K.O.!"

"I would like to persuade you towards letting your daughter get a job at the bodega, Pepelina."

"…You don't intend on beating around the bush, do you?"

"This is a topic of great importance to me, so no."

"Alright, but we should probably do it inside. I don't want the neighbors to get involved."

"That sounds perfectly acceptable."

The quartet step inside the household, but not before everyone but K.O. remove their shoes from themselves and place them near the door. Dendy explains.

"It's so that people don't track debris in with them when they enter the house."

"Good call. Uhh, are there any concerns with me? I mean, I do travel barefoot everywhere I go."

"You don't appear to be tracking anything in, so probably not. The main concern with footwear is the variety of places debris can be stuck anyway."

Everyone walks into the living room and has a seat. K.O. and Dendy sit next to each other, with Pavel and Pepelina across from them. Enid and Rad are there just in case. K.O. starts the dialogue.

"So your main concern with Dendy getting a job at the bodega is that she won't get treated fairly, correct?"

Pavel answers calmly.

"Correct."

"I see. Instead of worrying about whether the employer has a racial bias, why not force them to follow a different sort of law in the form of a contract?"

Pepelina looks at K.O. in a funny way.

"Contract? Do you honestly think that'll work?"

"Contracts were made specifically so that people would follow certain obligations, regardless of what they come from! If you play your cards right, you can get the employer to treat Dendy right, regardless of whether or not the employer likes it! Not that Mr. Gar would have difficulties giving fair treatment to all either way, but a contract would be a guarantee!"

Pavel looks at K.O. for a moment, then retorts.

"Are you really under the belief that a contract would force people to treat someone else the right way?"

"They have to be that powerful, or else society would never agree to do anything together!"

"You certainly took to finding ways around deeply engrossed racism, but it's not going to work. There is no way to enforce the contract constantly, and an employer could coerce Dendy into pretending that she's treated well under the threat of blacklisting her. In short, there are too many sociological weaknesses to contracts."

"The contract could be magically enforced. A task any sort of magician would be willing to do."

"The judge could throw out the case because of magical coercion."

"Then you can just disregard what I just said and look at the 'whistleblower' rights employees have! They would protect her from retaliation for complaining about the workplace! Let me emphasize how deeply Mr. Gar holds the law close to himself."

"Yet he could just as easily hide himself from the law if he needs to!"

K.O.'s fists spark with purple lightning and he slams his fist into the armrest of his chair hard enough to make sound but soft enough for the chair not to break.

"What did you say about Mr. Gar hiding himself from the law?!"

Dendy wraps her arms around K.O. and begins to calm him down.

"Steady yourself, K.O.. You need to be calm in order to convince them."

K.O. takes a deep breath and the purple lightning disappears.

"You're right, Dendy. I shouldn't get worked up over words like that."

Pepelina speaks up.

"It doesn't matter what sort of legal tools are available, a Kappa will still be vulnerable either way."

K.O. gives her a retort.

"What will it take for you to see that Dendy isn't going to suffer under the employment of Mr. Gar?"

"She would need someone to stand up for her in situations where it would be needed."

"You mean like someone who poured over several law textbooks just to convince you to let Dendy get a job?"

"Are you suggesting that you could protect Dendy from everything tipped against the Kappas?"

"I would kill everything that could be an injustice to anyone."

Pavel looks at K.O. skeptically.

"I doubt that you could be strong enough to make that happen."

K.O. looks somewhat offended at what Pavel had said. He might not be a full fledged hero yet, but he still has strength not to be overlooked. He responds to Pavel.

"And how strong is strong enough?"

"Stronger than me."

"That's actually pretty strong; But not impossible. Would you be opposed to a contest of strength to see who's stronger?"

Pavel flashes a wicked smile. It's been ages since he last fought another person, but he never stopped training. The memory of that horrible war and the desire to have a good opponent both fueled his training. Elated, Pavel gives his answer.

"Of course. I would love to see how strong you are. Especially since you appear to somehow already have a good idea of what I can do."

"Yeah, I don't know how it works either, but I can tell how strong someone is at a glance."

Enid, having never seen this from K.O. before, decides to ask about it.

"How long have you had this ability?"

"Ever since the fight with Athame. The moment I faded out of… I guess I would call it my UV Trigger, I've been more sensitive to a person's power than before. I don't know why It appeared after that moment specifically, though."

Pavel knew one other person with something similar. That person had moments of glorb exposure and could gauge power afterwards. The doctor said it was because "the body couldn't feel anything during exposure, so it overcompensates and the overcompensation sticks." But before he could contemplate it any further, K.O. decides to get back on track.

"But enough about what I can or cannot sense. Where do we go, Pavel?"

"In the backyard. There's enough space to fight using Power Moves. Which will hopefully be enough to get you to activate that UV Trigger you were talking about."

"Only if you force me to that point. Let's get ready."

K.O. and Pavel walk over to opposite ends of the backyard and assume ready stances. Pepelina is the one to start the match.

"3, 2, 1, go!"

Round 1. Pavel jumps high in the air and launches a salvo of bubbles from his fingertips at K.O. as he charges. K.O. launches a Power Chop to cut through them all, jumps up to where Pavel is, and lands a point-blank Power fist in his face. In response, Pavel slaps K.O. in the face, his hand containing a bubble that violently explodes on contact, which launches K.O. to the ground. From the cover of the dust, K.O. sends a barrage of Power Fists in the direction of Pavel, who can only send bubbles to counter them. But just before Pavel can hit the ground, K.O. uses the distraction he made to rush him and hit him in the solar plexus, a blue fire escaping his hand as he does so. Pavel collides with the fence and bursts through it, but not before softening the blow with a bunch of bubbles. Pavel gets up and uses two bubbles to propel himself towards K.O., sending multiple chains of bubbles his way. K.O. jumps to dodge the chains, only for them to make their way upwards to K.O.. To destroy the chains, K.O. sends a Power Chop spiraling down and cutting the chains multiple times. However, Pavel exploits this moment by jumping up in the center of the spiral and hitting K.O. with a cluster of bubbles, which produce a large explosion, greatly injuring K.O.. Realizing that Pavel had to protect himself from the blast, K.O. puts his remaining power into one attack and fires downward, producing a giant Power Fist that creates an explosion encompassing the backyard. K.O. lands on the ground and gets up, along with Pavel, both severely beaten, with K.O. looking like he took a somewhat greater amount of damage. Pavel strikes up a conversation with K.O..

"You… are… a damn good fighter! Haven't had… that good of a fight… in ages!"

"Thanks… for the compliment."

"But you should know… that you can't last… longer than me. So bring out that UV Trigger!"

"Fair enough. However… I should warn you; if I have it active… for longer than an instant… you could die."

Round 2. K.O. screams skyward as he unleashes a blue aura which becomes tinged purple. His wristbands take on a purple coloration without any of the spikes, and his eyes develop eyeshadow. When the transformation completes, K.O. disappears from Pavel's sight and runs his fist through Pavel's guts. K.O. removes his fist, cleans the blood off somehow, and deactivates the form.

"Like I said, only an instant."

Pavel collapses to the ground as Pepelina runs over with the first aid kit, which contains what is necessary to take care of injuries like this. Because they always seem to happen. As Pepelina treats the wound, K.O. looks on with sorrow.

"Sorry for going that far, Pavel. It's just hard to control myself in that form."

"What do you have to be sorry about? I knew the consequences, and I brought it out anyways. Besides, if you're willing to go to those lengths, I think Dendy will be just fine."

"Thank you, Mr… you know, it just occurred to me that I don't know your last name."

"It's Shirikodama."

"Would it be okay if I just call you by your first name?"

"Considering that I didn't bother telling you my last name until this moment, yeah. It's okay."

As Pepelina walks Pavel into the living room to rest, Dendy decides to ask her a question.

"Because K.O. managed to beat my dad in one-on-one combat, does this mean I have permission to work at the bodega? Keep in mind this conversation is being recorded."

"Sure! If K.O. could turn the fight around like that, I think you'll be okay."

Dendy, excited to share the news, walks over to K.O. and hugs him.

"She gave me permission! I can now work at the bodega! There's even a recording!"

"That's awesome, Dendy! Guys, we're done here!"

The quartet of K.O., Dendy, Enid, and Rad all walk towards the van and enter. As everyone gets in their respective seats, Rad smirks confidently.

"Wait till Mr. Gar hears what you did today."

_The Expert_

Lord Boxman paces around the door impatiently. The two-hour time period Shadowy Figure mentioned is almost up and Boxman doesn't know what to do. His machines can produce robots dozens of times quicker than before, he has enough to safety fill the floor, the designs of his robots were improved to both make them stronger and give much needed fixes to overlooked design flaws, he even made a device that could permanently replicate pre-existing materials! Strangely enough, this also works on glorbs, despite only one glorb powering the machine, which means he is literally creating energy from nothing, but that's another story.

"_I know it hasn't been two hours, but it's still maddening to wait so long!"_

Just then, the doorbell rings and Boxman opens the door to find a man with a mask with eight holes in the front, arranged in two downward parallel lines. The man has white hair that is extremely disheveled, white gloves, a white longcoat with white fur trim, the mask is white, he has a platinum white longsword, he has a white briefcase, his pants, shirt, and boots are white, and what little skin he shows displays albinism. Boxman wonders if this man is a person or several buckets of white paint given sentience. The white thing addresses Boxman.

"My name is Valkoinen Bianca. I am the expert Shadowy Figure mentioned in his call."

Of course the man's name is two different words for white. Nevertheless, he looks like he could help with the issue.

"Well then follow me. I'll show you where the server room is."

Lord Boxman and Valkoinen walk over to the server room with Boxman leading the way. He decides to ask Valkoinen about his choice of aesthetic.

"Why, exactly, do you wear nothing but white? It looks unsettling."

"It makes me easy to identify in a crowd. Think about it; which is easier to identify in a crowd? The man with a business suit, or the patch of white?"

"I see where you're getting at. But you couldn't have chosen something a little less unsettling?"

"I think it goes well with my complexion."

"Of course it does. You wear the same color as your skin!"

"Precisely."

They end up at the server room and enter, with Boxman giving the security clearance. He points at Shannon's server.

"That's the one that was hacked."

"I'll look into it."

Valkoinen walks to Shannon's server and sets down his briefcase. He opens it to reveal a white colored laptop with pure white keys, the letters being engraved, and a white screensaver. He hooks his laptop up to the server and accesses its files, when he notices a particularly well-designed piece of malware hidden away somewhere. He shares his information with Boxman.

"There appears to be a special type of virus on the server. One that appears to be self-replicating and interacts with the programming to set movement values to zero. Given what I saw in the virus, it may also be designed to adapt against anti-virus protocols. It will take 30 minutes to remove and an hour to develop a permanent antivirus."

"Great, more waiting. Go ahead, I don't have anything better to do."

"You could design a new robot while I work."

Boxman leaves the room to let Valkoinen do his thing. As he closes the door, he thinks about Valkoinen's advice.

"_Maybe I will design a new robot. I was going to make a merrow-like robot before I scrapped it, so maybe I could start again on that."_

Boxman sits down at his desk and begins to draw up schematics for his new robot. For the special ability, he decides to figure out how to manipulate hydrogen and/or oxygen molecules so that the robot could control large amounts of water. As for where the robot would get large amounts of water, he was considering using a modified replicator and a tank of water to produce it.

"Just a few minutes in and I already have a workable gimmick in mind. This is going to be fun!"

Design-wise, he was thinking that it would be a female robot. The apparel would be a bikini top designed after leatherback sea turtles, long, loose-fitting pants with a fishnet design revealing a bikini bottom designed after the Blue Crab, sandals inspired by sea slugs, fingerless gloves with an Emperor Angelfish inspired design on the left hand and a Clown triggerfish inspired design on the right, and a noticeable hairpin modeled after the Crown-of-thorns starfish. Her hair would resemble a deep blue sea urchin, her eyes would resemble the ocean in color, her skin would be a bright green, the color of algae, and her nails would have a seashell design with varying colors. She would have a slender figure with toned muscles and a youthful looking face. The teeth would be styled after great whites, which got Boxman to thinking about Valkoinen somehow, and the tongue would be purple.

"Now that I've figured out how she's going to look, all that's left is personality and fighting style!"

He thinks she would have a masculine personality to contrast Shannon, as well as an affinity for oceanography, specifically marine biology, and fishing. Her fighting style would involve a trident, possibly shooting water through it to increase its speed, power, and/or range, as well as add more water to manipulate. She could use the water to increase mobility, strength, or points of attack, among other things.

"That was fun! I should do that more often!"

As Lord Boxman says this, Valkoinen knocks on the door and announces something.

"I finished doing what I was sent to do, so I'll be leaving. I look forward to working with you again."

"How do I contact you? And what experience do you have programming robots?"

"You can ask Shadowy Figure about contacting me. As for my skill level, I am an expert in all things computer related. Why do you ask?"

"I may want to collaborate with you in the future."

"Be warned that I come with a high price tag."

"I'll keep that in mind."

Valkoinen walks out the door, heads in a sports car with a white paint job, white tires… screw it, everything about his car is white, and drives away. Lord Boxman decides to view over Valkoinen's work, so he walks over to the server room and looks at the coding.

"Everything here is in tip top shape! I think it might be running better than before the virus. And he managed to make storage more efficient, too! I am definitely working with him! If I can harness the white- I mean right parts of him!"

_Guess Who's Back_

Shannon feels helpless. No matter what she does, she cannot move. It's all because of that kappa. If that virus had never entered Shannon's mind, then she would still be able to move. She would be completely free to do what she wanted.

"_When I see that girl again, I am going to rip her apart! What was her name? I think K.O. called her… Dendy? Yes. You are going to die gruesomely the next time I see you."_

Suddenly, Shannon's arm moves to her face and slaps her. She is confused by this, before remembering that she was trying to move her hand to her face before she was frozen. She then becomes confused at how she is able to move, but Boxman arrives to explain things.

"Greetings, Shannon! Shadowy Figure sent over an expert to help fix your problem and now you're alright, if not better than before! How are you feeling?"

"Same as always, I guess. It was horrifying to not be able to move at all, so I'm glad to be able to move again. If I had to mention any new grudges, I say the girl that trapped me here."

"And what would you have me do in response?"

"Send Shane Arca after her."

Back at the bodega, Dendy was finishing up her improvements of the bodega. These included, but were not limited to, an automated checkout machine, tablets to help the customers with whatever they need, a massively improved security system, and high-efficiency cleaning tools. On the first day of trying these improvements out, everything went smoother than ever. Customers could get their items out and paid for in an instant, no one needed help with anything, and there were no successful instances of theft in the bodega. Additionally, any instances of dirtiness were addressed immediately and efficiently. They went through their customers in far less time than normal. At the end of the day, Mr. Gar came around and complimented his employees.

"Bodegamen, you did a wonderful job out there! K.O., you quickly and diligently dealt with messes the moment they appeared. Enid, you got the customers out of the door with everything they bought and prevented the formation of lines. Rad, you made sure that the shelves were fully stocked and ready for customers to grab from. And Dendy, you made the jobs of the others easier by giving them better tools for the job."

_(in unison)_ "Thank you, Mr. Gar!"

"Any other person would probably let you off early! But we're still under the threat of being attacked, so keep a sharp eye out until it's time to leave!"

_(in unison)_ "Yes sir!"

Mr. Gar walks back to his office and closes the door. After he does this, Dendy ponders something.

"Why would a robot attack us now? If they were going to attack, then they would have done it when our guard was at its lowest, instead of a time when we could defend most effectively."

Enid chuckles and puts her mind at ease.

"Don't worry, Dendy. I'm sure that they're pretty discouraged from the virus thing. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if they sent a note of surrender!"

As she says that line, fate disproves her as a box touches down on the parking lot and opens up, revealing a truly pissed Shane Arca.

"Dendy!"

The moment he shouts that line, Dendy begins looking a little worried.

"So he managed to escape my virus. This is going to be a bad experience for me, isn't it?"

K.O. puts his hand on Dendy's shoulder and speak to her to relieve her worry.

"You've got no reason to worry, Dendy. You beat him once before, so there's no need to prove yourself. We can easily beat him if we all work together."

Shane Arca laughs at this comment by K.O. and responds.

"Don't count on it! I've been training so that I could beat all of you at once! Abandon all hope, ye who enter the battle!"

Round 1. Enid and Rad fire a Power Foot Fireball and a Power Poke respectively at Shane, who dodges by jumping up in the air. However, K.O. appears just above him and fires countless Power Fists at him, forcing him to be sent downward to a waiting Enid and Rad, who hit him with full-strength Power Moves when he gets close enough. Fortunately for Shane, he turns both his hands into shields and positions them in such a way that he is unharmed by any of the attacks. But just as he retreats from the three, he discovers that a holographic string is around his limbs. It contracts and binds his limbs behind his back, while K.O. takes the opportunity to close the gap and chop off all of his limbs. Before that can happen, however, he turns each of his extremities into chainsaws and chops his way out of his bindings, just in time for him to deliver a brutal slash to K.O.'s chest. He closed the wound using his aura and hit Shane in the face with a Power Fist, while jamming his thumb in his eye, destroying it in the process. Shane manages to stand up.

"You under-handed bastard! You destroyed my eye!"

"It seems like an advantageous move."

"Fair enough! Also, sorry for calling you a bastard. I went too far."

"Apology accepted."

Round 2. Rad rushes from behind Shane and launches a Power Poke directly in his remaining eye. However, Shane saw this coming, so he closed his eye and transformed his eyelid into a transparent shield blocking it. But he still flinches, allowing Dendy to form holographic guillotines over his wrists. But before she can chop his hands off, he transforms his hands into laser axes and cuts through the guillotines. He tries to decapitate Rad, but Enid covers the axes with highly resistant cloth and binds his arms with metallic ribbons. K.O. places his hand over the transparent shield and rips it off, burning his eye in the process. To make up for this, he turns his shoulders into sonar sensors, and unleashes a stream of green fire from his hands, burning K.O. and Enid. Rad tries to use his psychic powers to rip off the sonar, only for Shane to cut the streams with plasma scissors. But Dendy uses Shane's diversion of focus to blow out the sonar with a sonic attack. The attack also ruptures his eardrums, meaning that he can not hear anymore. While Shane is disoriented, K.O. activates UV Trigger and annihilates Shane with one blow. K.O. reverts.

"I'm going to have to use that form a lot more, aren't I?"

_(in unison)_ "Yep."

"All right. Long as that's clear."

As he said that, Dendy notices something about his appearance.

"K.O., your headband looks incredibly worn down."

"That's probably because I activated UV Trigger. Gonna make me run out of headbands, though."

Enid chimes in.

"Or you can just keep your hair down. You look kinda cute with long, fluffy hair."

Dendy and Rad agree with this statement, and K.O. relents, snapping the headband and letting down hair that reaches his waistline, making him resemble a sheep in silhouette.

"I really hope it doesn't get in my eyes."

Dendy offers a suggestion.

"If that happens, wear a hairpin."

"Good idea, Dendy!"

Back at Boxmore, Lord Boxman is sitting in his chair, doing nothing. He moves so little that he looks dead. He looks like he is no more. Like he's ceased to be. Like he's expired and gone to meet his maker. He looks like a late Boxman. Like a stiff. Bereft of life, he looks like he rests in peace. If he wasn't stuck in his chair, he'd look like someone pushing up daisies. His metabolic processes are almost history. Like he's off the twig. Like he's kicked the bucket, like he's shuffled off his mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleeding choir invisible. He's… LIKE AN EX-BOXMAN! Shadowy Figure calls.

"I need instant deathtraps!"

"Aaaaah!"


	4. Chapter 4

I really shouldn't have to tell you the format by now. Just enjoy the show.

—

_Further Research Is Needed_

The Plaza Quartet have made their way to the library to help K.O. with his UV Trigger, an unrefined enhancement mode that he can only control for an instant before losing control, by studying it. K.O. and Rad go about this by reading "Metaphysiology of The Inner Malefactor," while Dendy and Enid look over cases to aid in the research, with Dendy being able to access redacted files. After the two groups separate, K.O. and Rad begin to read the next 50 pages.

"Same routine as before, K.O.?"

"Same routine as before."

Similar to last time, they manage to get 50 pages in an hour. This section dealt with how to establish communication with the negative side of your mind. It involves blocking out all outside stimuli to create the sensation of nothingness, using your mind to turn the nothingness into a world tangible to everything in your mind, and evoking the darker counterpart to appear in an area separate to yourself, preferably in a binding system. Rad chimes in.

"Time for a 20-minute break."

"I'll try out that method mentioned in the book!"

"Good idea! We can- I mean you can see if it works."

Elsewhere, Dendy and Enid are compiling a list of files that have suspicious amounts of whiteout on them. Once they have 30 or so, Dendy begins work on removing the whiteout with a machine she installed on her hackpack, starting with a page that is almost entirely whiteout except for the heading. The heading appears to indicate that this file belonged to P.O.I.N.T. 6-11 years ago. But that didn't matter now. All that mattered to Dendy was helping K.O. with his problem at any cost, even breaking the law. The document read as follows:

"_Laserblast has been exhibiting increasingly erratic behavior the more he has been using his true power. The ability to steal power from other people. In addition, he has also become increasingly paranoid, resentful, and amoral in his duties, resulting in the extremely brutal murder and depowering of several villains, unidentifiable due to the state their bodies were in. In his quarters, he has shown to be emotionally distant and even suffers from occasional bouts of insomnia. He has also been making daily visits to a donut shop, emerging without having bought anything. This wouldn't be suspicious if it wasn't done several times. I attempted to enter the donut shop just as Laserblast left, but the door was locked and the windows were rendered unbreakable and opaque, preventing me from seeing what was inside. Dr. Greyman was sent to investigate the donut shop using whatever tools necessary. I and Foxtail await further notice, but I am still worried. El-Bow and Rippy Roo have kept me occupied with small talk, but I still don't know if everything is going to be alright…"_

"Judging from the information in the passage, I deduce that this was written by K.O.'s mother. And from what we already know about the dark side of a person, he appeared to have suffered from a darker part of himself before he died. But there was nothing about whether he ended up fine. What do you think, Enid?"

"I think we should look at the other whiteouts to get a better idea of-"

A voice chimes in above them.

"What do you think you're doing?!"

The two look up to see a woman with a cloud-based body and weather-themed accessories. The clouds composing her hair appeared to be let down, showing it to be waist-length. Dendy responds.

"We're helping our friend with a problem and we think the answer might be in these documents."

"Those documents were whited out because they weren't supposed to be read! Do you have even the slightest idea of what could happen to P.O.I.N.T. if that information was leaked to the public?!"

"I do not give even the slightest damn about the problems of P.O.I.N.T.. My friends take priority, first and foremost. If there are any laws that prevent me from helping my friends, then I blow my nose at those laws!"

"Your priorities are incredibly skewed. You should realize that the laws are the most important thing to a hero. For breaking those laws, I will have to punish you."

"Then bring it on! I will make castanets out of your skull!"

Back at the table, 20 minutes have passed. K.O. had successfully created an inner world and managed to summon the worse side of himself in a glass box. Rad, on the other hand, was moderating a forum about cats during the 20 minutes. They both get back to reading.

"Alright K.O.. Let's get back to reading this thing!"

"Of course."

Another hour passed and another 50 pages were read. This time, it focused on how to pacify the darker side and give it a better outlook on life. Long story short, it involves figuring out what could be problems in your life and helping the darker side out with those problems. You should also take the time to talk with it about your life and listen to it talk about itself. The more you know about each other, the greater your darker side will be willing to cooperate with you. Rad begins the break.

"20 more minutes to take a break."

"I'll talk to my other person while this is going on."

"Make sure not to talk about me behind my back."

"Rad, both me and my blackened half are two parts of the same person. If I did talk about you, it would be the same as forming an opinion."

"Right. I knew that."

Back at Dendy and Enid, they are working to suppress a lethal and unnatural storm the cloud lady made. She has become incensed because, within the hour, Dendy removed the whiteout from the files and made copies of the files on her computer system.

"I will not let you have your way with those documents! I will protect P.O.I.N.T. from anything that might threaten it!"

"Could you give it a rest, lady?! If there is something incriminating in the documents, then P.O.I.N.T. deserves what it gets anyway!"

"P.O.I.N.T. is the only thing protecting people from the scourge of villainy! What would the people do without them?!"

"Make a better organization!"

Enid then talks to Dendy quietly.

"I don't think we can keep this storm at bay any longer. We need to get out of here while we have the chance."

"You have a point. Let's get the others first."

"Right."

Enid performs a jutsu and the two teleport to K.O. and Rad. Enid debriefs them.

"We need to get out quickly!"

K.O. is curious as to why they need to get out.

"What's the matter?"

"We stumbled onto a conspiracy and-"

K.O. lets out a sigh.

"Say no more. Just do what you need to."

On that request, Enid teleports all four of the quartet out of the library and to K.O.'s house. They believe it will be safe there. K.O. attempts to get back on track.

"Is It alright if we continue to read the book? There's only one section left."

Enid is confused and decides to make it known.

"Aren't there 100 pages left?"

"Yeah, but the last fifty consist of an afterword, a glossary, which we have used extensively, and works cited."

"Figures. Alright then, let's read the final section."

The quartet spend the hour reading the book. The last section details how to evoke the power of the dark side most effectively. Specifically, it discusses two methods. Metapossesion and dual possession. Metapossession involves possessing the dark part of the self and using it to control your body while using its power, while dual possession is the practice of both sides controlling the body at once in agreement. A better relationship improves the efficacy of both practices immensely, but it has a greater effect on dual possession. Metapossession is easier to execute, but dual possession is far more powerful. The group breathes a sigh of relief.

_(in unison)_ "We finally did it."

Dendy, Enid and Rad head out the door and prepare to leave K.O.'s house.

"You're all leaving already? What's the rush?"

"I have to look at these files on my computer. If the response of that lady was any indication, there could be something big with P.O.I.N.T., and the answer could be in these files."

"Fair enough. What about you, Enid?"

"I'm going to try to brush up on my magic skills to supplement my ninja skills. I actually have this idea to combine Fireball with my Power move to create a massive projectile!"

"Awesome! And you, Rad?"

"I'm going to try to separate myself from some of the things Mega Football Baby and Bell Beefer told me to be before they died. Which means I'm going to embrace yoga, kittens, and babysitting! I've also been getting romantic advice from people on my kitten forum."

Enid gets interested in that last part. Romantic advice? Is he trying to get a date? Or is this more separation from his two deceased "friends"?

"What for, Rad?"

"Because I think I acted like a jerk on our last date and I want to make sure that I don't make the same mistake again. I'm sorry that I caused you pain, Enid."

"Aww, thanks."

K.O. enjoys the moment, before remembering what they said.

"Wait a second, you guys dated?!"

"It's a long story, K.O.. One that Rad and I don't like to revisit. Besides, you've got your own relationship to focus on."

"Touché."

The three leave and K.O. decides to meditate to talk to the darkness within. He pulls up the mental world and sees the darkness inside of a glass box. He decides to talk to it.

"Are you ok?"

**Know Your Mom**

The darkness turns to face K.O. as his features become more defined. His appearance is a dead ringer for the state K.O. entered during the fight with Gigant Model Darrell. Just looking at him brings up some awful memories for K.O.. The once obscured dark side responds.

"No, I'm not okay! This glass box gives me no freedom to do what I want, always trapping me in here! And what the hell made you decide to make it a box?! That's like giving an Independence Day souvenir to an alien! Set civil rights back to the dark ages for the others…"

"I see that you have a lot of complaints, my darker contemporary-"

"And stop with all the dumb names you're giving me! Seriously, UV Trigger?! That sounds like something you fix with sunscreen!"

"Technically, that's just what I call it when I access your powers…"

"Then you can call me something different!"

"Like what?"

"Uh-"

The other half is stumped at the question. He thought that K.O. wouldn't ask for any sort of example of what he should be called. He scrambled to come up with an answer.

"Turbo K.O.!"

"That sounds incredibly childish and unintimidating."

_(petulantly)_ "Shut up, I think it's cool!"

"No idea how you do, but okay."

"Enough about me, anyways! What's up with your life, K.O.?"

"Pretty strangely, actually. I just went into the library to study, but it somehow escalated into discovering a conspiracy based around P.O.I.N.T.! I'm not sure how to treat it's membership anymore."

"Speaking of its membership, what are you planning to do for Mother's Day?"

"I was going to give her a macaroni art version of a popular movie scene."

"...Really? Macaroni art? The most important person in your whole life, and you give her macaroni art?"

"She likes my macaroni art! She says so herself!"

"She only says that to protect your feelings! Seriously, you know it isn't all that good! And don't you think she deserves more than that? I mean, you don't really do anything for Father's Day."

As… Turbo K.O. says that last line, a glass spike pops from the box and pierces his heart, underscoring that he went a little far in saying that. He apologizes.

"Fair enough. That was a little tactless of me. But she does deserve something more than pasta pictures."

"Any ideas?"

"Something that fits her personality. That fits her interests in a way that expresses the thought you put into it. Find out what she likes and give her something within that category."

"Such wisdom."

"Also applies for literally anyone else."

"What is it that you like, Turbo?"

Turbo K.O. ponders the question for a moment before giving a confident answer.

"To fight as much as possible."

"All right."

K.O. closes his eyes and concentrates. The glass box expands to the size of the dojo, a ring 10m in radius is put in the center of the space, and a robot with a henshin outfit appears on one side of the ring. At that moment, a tablet with various settings for the robot appears. Turbo is astounded.

"Is this for me?"

"Consider it a gift for that wonderful advice you gave me."

Turbo smiles warmly and gets to using the tablet. He sets the robot to Level 10 and prepares to fight him. K.O. leaves the mental world to get something for Mother's Day.

"_Get something within her interests. I can manage that. Her interests appear to be combat-related and connected to her time at P.O.I.N.T.. So maybe I should give her the chance to relive her days as a hero! And I know just how to do that…"_

He pulls up his phone and activates the voice-changer and other anonymity features Dendy put on his phone. This way, he can call a villain from Carol's past and not attract them to his place of residence. He looks up the number of Succulentus, leader of The Kactus Krew, and calls him. The phone rings for a while before there's an answer.

"_Who is it?"_

"A messenger. My message is that Silver Spark is ready to fight you tomorrow at 12 in the afternoon. The location is Lakewood Plaza Turbo. Come dressed to the nines, if you want it to be a proper match. And make sure not to make yourself more of an embarrassment than last time."

"_What the hell did you-"_

At that moment, K.O. abruptly hangs up the phone and shuts off the anonymity features. He hopes the frustration of being hung up on by a number Succulentus can't call back will spurn him into action. He hopes that Succulentus will be enough to satisfy his mom; if he's a pushover, then she might not be able to enjoy the fight. As he ponders this, however, his mother appears from behind the corner to ask him a question.

"K.O., who did you call?"

K.O. jumps back in response to this and scrambles for a response.

"Mom! I didn't expect to see you there! Also, it's a surprise!"

"K.O., I know your heart was in the right place with that call, but I really need to know who you called."

"...Succulentus."

Carol pauses for a moment… before launching into uproarious laughter that could only be matched by watching a Joe Cuppa stand-up show. She goes about this for a good minute and a half before managing to form coherent words.

"Succulentus?! That musical pansy?!"

"No, he's a succulent."

"I wasn't being literal, K.O.! I meant that I beat him and his entire group on my own! In their halcyon days!"

K.O. looks down as he hears those words. He can't help but feel disappointed in himself for choosing such a weak opponent for his mother to fight. She notices this and moves to comfort K.O..

"Don't worry, K.O.. I know you were just trying to find a good opponent for me to fight on Mother's Day, but I've grown past wanting to fight villains. Right now, the only thing I want to do is help you become an excellent young man."

"How did you get this way? You still had a sense of justice after Laserblast's death, and the only thing that changed was my birth. I know that Mr. Gar was kicked from the team, too, but that isn't a reason to stop doing what you love."

"You're right about that, K.O.. But if I had to explain myself, I would say that, when I saw you for the first time ever, I felt like I wanted to protect you from the harsh realities of the world. That when I was holding you in my arms, everything felt right and everything made sense. You gave me happiness that I never had before, and I didn't want to give up that happiness at any cost. So I took to raising you, and I have never lost that happiness since."

K.O. looks on in amazement at what his mother said.

"That was so deep and thoughtful."

"Thanks, K.O.!"

"But couldn't you have still raised me working for P.O.I.N.T.? Their hours aren't particularly bad."

"If I died on the job, then there wouldn't be anyone left to raise you with the same affection I had."

"Good point, mom."

"But enough rambling! Let's get some rest for tomorrow!"

K.O. and his mother go to their separate beds and get ready to go to sleep. The day begins, and they get ready to go to the plaza. They had been told to come to work Saturday to oversee renovations to the plaza, and K.O. had set the time for the battle knowing this. 5 minutes before it reaches high noon, Succulentus appears in a luxury car and steps out to fight Silver Spark. However, she points out the obvious.

"The invitation said 12:00. It's 11:55."

"I know that! I just want to get ready for the fight! Wouldn't want to pull a muscle or anything."

"Good idea!"

The two perform stretches in preparation for the fight, just so they'll be in the best condition. While they do that, however, K.O. notices something about Succulentus.

"You don't look like you're in the best physical condition. In fact, you look quite a bit older than you should."

"Succulents don't really live long. I may be 30-something, but I look 55-60. I can feel it too."

Carol looks on in concern. The years have certainly taken their toll on both of them, but Carol has only grown stronger than when she first did hero work. Succulentus, on the other hand, looks like he hasn't aged well. If the battle goes too far, he could very well die, and she knows this. Succulentus notices the look on her face and decides to ease her worries.

"If you think this battle will kill me just because I aged worse than you, then you're wrong. I knew I couldn't match you in a contest of strength, so I worked on my cactus magic in order to stand a chance. You won't believe what I can do with my cacti now."

"If you say so."

They wait anxiously for high noon to arrive. The clock ticks to 11:57, then to 11:58, then to 11:59. The final minute feels the longest, as both combatants think anxiously about what to do when the clock strikes 12. 30 seconds until 12:00. 29, 28, 27, 26, 25, 24, 23, 22, 21, 20, 19, 18, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. They reach high noon.

Round 1. Carol lunges at Succulentus with two Power Fists readied, but he uses Nine Inch Needles to summon a Barrel cactus three times his height next to him and pelt Carol with a barrage of needles in order to get some distance between them. He jumps on top of the spherical cactus turret and uses The Pretenders to summon 10 Hylocereus minions to attack Carol. She burns them all without a second thought, but discovers that it was a distraction to use Ten Thousand Pricks, summoning a massive Agave cactus with thousands of finger-like protrusions that can extend dozens of meters and have clusters of spikes on the tips. Carol forms a battle axe made of hellfire that she calls Santa Diablo. It holds an unusual shape, looking like 4 crescent moons arranged in a circle with the inner parts facing outward, held by a black mamba. She uses it to cut every protrusion on the plant, burning it in the process, until she delivers the killing blow on the giant Agave. The hit makes her airborne, when she discovers that over a hundred Barrel cacti were made on the plaza.

"Oh you sneaky son of a-"

Round 2. Every Barrel cactus in the area launches innumerable amounts of needles in Carol's direction, forcing her to use Santa Diablo to burn the brunt of the needles. However, a dragon fruit appears next to her and explodes violently. It was thrown by a Hylocereus minion, appearing next to over a hundred others. They each jump on top of the barrel cacti while Carol regains her composure and forces the needles that connected out by sheer force of will. They toss a bunch of explosive dragon fruits at her in conjunction with a barrage of needles from the Barrel cacti, but she launches a Power Fist at each of the dragon fruit while dodging the needles. Unfortunately, she steps on Stairway to Seeing Stars, a Lophophora williamsii that explodes when stepped on, releasing a cloud of mescaline into the air. She feels the effects immediately, envisioning psychedelic patterns unique to mescaline, forming a cobweb figure. She can't dodge the onslaught of needles and explosive dragon fruit that come her way, severely damaging her body. She knows she has to get a hold of herself in order to win, so she focuses hard on sensing the life around her. She senses Barrel cacti and Hylocereus minions, but focuses her efforts on Succulentus. Without hesitation, Carol envelops herself in the hellfire of her Santa Diablo, creating a shield of fire, and launches herself towards Succulentus. Desperate to avoid the attack, Succulentus uses Deadliner, a Jumping Cholla cactus that imprisons the target, leaving them to die. The papery sheath protected the spines long enough to seriously puncture her skin in many places, but the cactus ends up burning to death and Carol hits Succulentus with a Power Fist covered in hellfire, knocking him into a nearby car and dispelling the other cacti in the area.

"Okay, okay, you win! Now can I get some peace?!"

"I'm in no condition to stop you, so sure. As for me, I'm just going to take my severely wounded body and lie down for a minute…"

She collapses to the floor and passes out. Feeling some regret for what he did, Succulentus uses Rx to summon Aloe Vera, Prickly Pear, and other cacti with healing properties and ensure that she lives on. It takes a minute for all her wounds to be healed, but she comes to.

"You healed me."

"Well it was pretty exciting to fight you again. I felt glad to test my mettle against you and see how you reacted to it."

"It was exciting for me too! I can't believe how much you improved your cactus magic since then!"

"It was the only thing I could improve that wouldn't go away with age."

"Fair enough. You want to talk about what we've been up to over some coffee?"

"Coffee sounds fantastic right about now."

"Great! Wanna join us, K.O.? K.O.?"

She turns around to face K.O., but he isn't there. Carol is horrified to find her child missing.

"_Where is my baby boy?! When did he disappear?! Was I so engrossed in the fight that I forgot to watch my own child?!"_

A tear rolls down her face, but Succulentus comforts her.

"Don't worry, Silver Spark. I've seen videos of your child in action, and he seems strong enough to take care of himself."

"Thanks, Succulentus."

The moment is interrupted by Dendy yelling.

"Carol! Come over here!"

The second they hear that, both Carol and Succulentus rush to the inside of the bodega and see Dendy and Mr. Gar looking at a holographic interface. Carol asks them something.

"What happened?!"

"I think you should see for yourself."

Dendy plays the video sent to her anonymously. The first few seconds involve the rest of the quartet tied up so that they cannot escape and gagged so they can't say anything.

"K.O.!"

Suddenly, a voice starts playing over it. It is heavily distorted and unrecognizable.

"_Do not call the authorities. Do not call the news station. If anyone besides those that work at Lakewood Plaza Turbo know that these three are missing, they die. There is only one condition under which these three will be released. And that is the immediate erasure of the documents Dendy obtained at the library."_

The moment the voice says that, K.O. interrupts by creating an eyeball out of blue aura and quickly speaking from it.

"_Don't do what Foxtail says to do, Dendy!"_

A blast hits the eyeball and destroys it. The voice continues speaking.

"_If you do not comply in one hour, we will kill them. Think about what to do before you act."_

The video cuts out at that point. Everyone present is horrified at the video, disbelieving that anyone could do this. But Dendy remembers what K.O. said.

"Wait a moment, did K.O. say that Foxtail was the one that said it?"

Everyone turns to her in surprise, before Carol confirms it.

"You're right! K.O. did say that Foxtail said it! Does that mean she's the one behind this?!"

"It probably has to do with what I found on the documents. As it turns out, P.O.I.N.T. has been purchasing glorbs from the black market. I asked the librarian about this and she said that someone in a P.O.I.N.T. uniform turned them into her and told her to hide them from P.O.I.N.T., so she covered them with whiteout and hid them in the library. Carol, what should we do?"

"I-I don't know!"

Succulentus decides to voice his opinion.

"If they're willing to do this to force you to stay silent, then you shouldn't stay silent. I've seen some close friends of my father be miserable because they stayed silent about injustices that affected the community. If we don't speak up about this, then it will continue to happen, and that would be wrong."

"You're right, Succulentus. Once K.O., Enid, and Rad are rescued, I'll be sure to make this information public."

When Dendy says that, Carol voices a crucial question.

"But how do we rescue them?!"

Succulentus provides an answer.

"We break into P.O.I.N.T. HQ and find them. You're still in contact with your old friends, right?"

"Yes, I know where P.O.I.N.T. HQ is. So let's break in."

**We're Captured**

K.O., Enid, and Rad are tied up in a white room with a grid pattern. There is a one-way window near the ceiling that their kidnappers, Chip Damage and Foxtail, can look through to make sure nothing goes wrong. However, something did go wrong and Chip is getting chewed out like a… chip for it.

"You didn't censor my name when you sent the video?!"

"Of course not. You didn't tell me to censor your name in the video. Just mine."

"Did you ever stop to consider that, just maybe, the reason K.O. mentioned me instead of you was that he knew you would censor your name?!"

"Well you should have told me to censor your name, then."

"I shouldn't have to tell you these things! You should already know these things! How do you not know these things?!"

"This is the first time I've done this!"

As the two are arguing, Enid manages to use a jutsu-spell combination to turn the bindings to water and spread it to her friends' bindings, which become water. As the three head towards the door, Enid remembers to place clones of the three of them in the same bindings as before in their place and then teleport all three of them to a place where no one could find them. Free of captivity, Enid decides to ask her teammates what to do.

"Now that Foxtail and that Chip on her shoulder can't find us, does anyone have any ideas as to what we should do?"

"We could just stay here until help arrives. With that message K.O. put into the video, his mom is definitely going to have some choice words with Foxtail!"

"If she even sees the video. K.O., do you have a plan?"

"We could go to the server room and see what other dirty secrets they're hiding."

"That would be a better idea if Dendy were around to do that. We could go back and fight those two, just to make sure they don't do anything else."

"I don't even know if my UV Trigger would be enough to finish them off! And they could end up binding you guys even worse than before!"

"Yeah, not one of your brightest ideas."

"Every artist has one or two bad apples in their resume. How are we going to get out of here and still put a stop to whatever they're doing?!"

The three ponder this question before K.O. comes up with an unusual solution.

"Is it okay if I bring out Turbo K.O. to give his two cents, Enid?"

"Turbo K.O.?"

"He chose the name, not me."

"I'm guessing you're talking about that emo side of you?"

"Goth. He's gothic. And yes, I am talking about him."

"Go ahead."

K.O. meditates for a moment and pulls up the mental world. He sees the large glass box and Turbo K.O., fighting 6 henshin robots at once, with a giddy smile on his face. K.O. knocks on the glass for a moment and Turbo K.O. stops the battle to talk.

"What do you want?"

"A second, or rather, fourth opinion on something."

"Like what?"

"Me and my friends managed to escape from P.O.I.N.T. custody-"

"What?! You were in P.O.I.N.T. custody?! When the hell did this happen?!"

"During mom's fight with Succulentus."

"When did she fight Succulentus?! How did she end up fighting Succulentus?!"

"High noon, and I arranged it as a Mother's Day present."

"…Dear god, I have to start paying more attention before I miss these things!"

"Anyways, we managed to escape and we're sequestered in an area of P.O.I.N.T. HQ where no one will find us. But we need to find some way to escape the compound while also figuring out what P.O.I.N.T. is up to."

"Maybe you could try interrogating the Honors Students and see if they can give you what you need. If you want to avoid being detected, then you can go through the ventilation."

"How will I know which students are Honors?"

"Take a wild guess."

K.O. thinks for a moment, before reaching his own conclusion.

"They act like they're better than everyone else, they have great pride in the school, and they're more likely to go to extracurriculars."

"You've gotten perceptive in your formative years. I suggest you use that skill to the fullest."

"Thanks for the compliment. And for your help. Here's my repayment."

K.O. concentrates and an OLEDC9P appears in a moderately sized glass box initially separate from the main box until it is pulled to the main one and connected via door. The TV is given a stand and a DVR is placed just below it. A comfortable chair is placed in the perfect spot.

"This will allow you to replay any memories you might have missed. There may also be some original programming at night."

"You are really good to me, you know?"

"I do my best to be good to everyone! They feel good inside, which ends up making me feel good inside!"

"Is that the case for everyone?"

"To be honest, I really don't know. Some people become villains, but it might be out of necessity or some psychological conditioning."

"Do you think I'm a villain?"

"Do you want to be a villain?"

"I'll have to think about that."

K.O. returns to the real world, with Enid and Rad waiting for him.

"He suggested interrogating the Honors Students and seeing what they know. We should move by the ventilation system in order to avoid being caught."

"What about Rad? He doesn't seem like he could move through the vents with any amount of stealth."

"Way to show your confidence in my skills, Enid!"

"Hey, I could see you coming from a mile away without having to hear you banging against metal vents."

"Enough, you two! Rad can stay here and use his psychic powers to get rid of anyone that might actually find this place."

"Sounds like a good use of my powers."

"I agree, he seems perfect for the job."

"Then let's split up! We'll meet back here in two hours with everything we learned. I'll make sure to sense you guys and get us back here alive."

"Wait a moment, how are you going to sense me and Rad from so far away?"

"I saw my mom use the skill during the fight with Succulentus, just before I was kidnapped."

"Okay, if you say so."

K.O. and Enid go into a nearby vent and separate to find some Honors Students. They assume that it's business as usual, so they attempt to find the quarters for each of the students. Eventually, K.O. happens upon what he assumes is the main living area of the students. There is a banner on display showing a muscular arm lifting a weight, which confuses K.O..

"_That's strange. I would have thought that the quality best representing a hero would be virtue, not strength. Did they have to change the logo to something more universally accepted?"_

As he ponders this, two students open the door and K.O. hides from their view. They are two women. One with short, dark hair, dark-grey skin, ruby-red eyes, thigh-high boots, a metal bracer on the left hand, and a sword with a black blade and a red eye in the cross guard. The other has prominent muscles, a gladiator helmet with a blue crest, a golden buckler on the left arm, a gladiator skirt and gladiator sandals. They both wore P.O.I.N.T. Prep uniforms. From their demeanor towards one another, he could tell that they were both Honors. He thought about the situation carefully.

"_I should probably separate the two so that they can't cooperate against me. I think I'll lock out the big one and disarm the one with the sword."_

Promptly, he attacks the one with the sword, knocking her on her butt, even with her parrying the attack, and creates two Power Fists to grab the banner and tie up the gladiator with it, in a similar manner to how he and his friends were tied up. He then rushes over to the swordswoman and grabs her sword, throwing it hard enough to pin the gladiator to the wall. With a calm tone in his voice, he requests information from the disarmed sword-user.

"P.O.I.N.T. has been purchasing glorbs from the black market and I would like to know what they are doing with them, please."

"Wait, did you say they were from the black market?"

"Yes, why do you-"

"That massive liar! He said that the glorbs we were supposed to use were verified to be safe!"

"What were your concerns with the glorbs?"

"That they would blow up while we were using them to enhance ourselves!"

"That sounds scary! But at least you didn't use them too often."

"Oh no no no, he had the ability to activate them when we screwed up! And that could literally be any time we just have a bad day!"

"Did the glorbs last long at all?"

"They lasted one week before we had to go and get more! And we all had to go to the gym at nighttime to get em!"

"Did any of the other students share your feelings towards the subject?"

"Strange thing, they didn't! Phoebe over there told me to calm down before I got kicked out, Purrcival wanted to 'experiment' with the glorbs, and Elodie said she just wanted to win!"

"Did Purrcival's 'experiments' yield any results?"

"Of course that feline bastard yielded results! He always yields results! Dr. Greyman was even talking about him graduating early and taking his place, he's so good! It's like he and Elodie think they're better than everyone else in the group, just because he impressed the teachers and she won against some ninja girl for the spot!"

"Ninja girl?"

"Oh yeah! She just used her magical arrows to endlessly pelt the girl and win the favor of everyone in the crowd. The ninja girl was even her friend! How fudged up is that?!"

"Very. What about the others besides them?"

"There weren't any! Foxtail is such a stick in the mud that she will only allow those that get perfect grades into the Honors Program! I have to study 24/7 to keep that up!"

"That sounds miserable. Thank you, anyways."

"Yeah it does- wait, thanks for what?"

"For telling me so much about the Honors Students."

The swordswoman then realized what she had been saying this whole time, and a look of embarrassment washes across her face.

"Aaaaaaaaahhhhhh! I can't believe I said all that! I! Am such! An idiot!"

She bangs her head on the wall with those last three statements, as well as several times afterwards, before Phoebe calms her down.

"Don't worry, Queenie. You're not an idiot. The kid was just really good with people. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if he were a student here!"

K.O. slightly blushes at the compliment.

"Thanks, but I'm not old enough to attend here. Besides, I'm not as good as you guys."

The swordswoman objects to K.O.'s modesty.

"'Not as good,' my ass! You knocked me down despite me blocking the attack, you tied up Phoebe so that she couldn't escape, and got me to spill the beans on everything you wanted me to! That is Honors material!"

K.O. looks at her, his eyes glowing with glee, and asks her something.

"Really? You think I'm that good?"

"Absolutely!"

"Thank you!"

"Anytime."

Phoebe decides to interject the conversation with her own issues.

"If I may interject, could someone please tie me down?"

"How do I know you won't try to attack me when you get free?"

"If Demon Queenie or I wanted to attack you, she would have done it while she was complimenting you."

"And how do I know that wasn't to let my guard down?"

"Look, can you please untie me? It's really uncomfortable."

"Oh, alright!"

With a quick motion, he imbues his aura into the banner and unties it, putting it back where it was in the first place.

"Thank you for that. It was getting to the point of chafing there. So how did you get here?"

"Well, I was kidnapped by Foxtail-"

"So that's why Phoebe had to serve as the substitute for today!"

"-and used as a bargaining chip so that my friend would delete files that would put P.O.I.N.T. in hot water."

"You mean the glorb buying you told Queenie about?"

"Exactly. My friend Enid used her jutsus and magic to destroy our bindings and put copies in our place. She also put us in a place no one would find us at, where we came up with a plan to not only escape, but find information about P.O.I.N.T.'s more… sordid activities."

"A plan that I foolishly advanced."

"We were supposed to come back to our spot two hours after we left. Of course, I didn't think it would be so quick to get the information. Sorry if that's hurtful to anyone."

"I'm not too offended by that."

"Good to know. So, could one of you tell me why the emblem of your school is only representative of strength?"

"Wait a moment, you think that's the emblem for the school?"

"You mean it isn't?"

"I think we should explain how this school works to you. Is it okay if we go somewhere else to sit?"

"Sure!"

K.O., Queenie and Phoebe head over to the chairs in the center of the area and sit in them, the two students sitting next to each other and K.O. sitting across from them. Queenie starts the conversation.

"Unlike most schools, P.O.I.N.T. Prep's student body is divided into the three disciplines of Strength, Wisdom, and Charisma. Strength is the discipline me and Phoebe belong to. It involves exceptional physical fitness and physical combat ability. Wisdom, the discipline that smug prick Purrcival belongs to, is focused on mental acuity and knowledge. Last and, in my opinion, least is Charisma, where that traitor Elodie belongs. It involves public appeal and interpersonal skills."

"Why would P.O.I.N.T. Prep create such a trichotomy among its student body? Heroes are supposed to learn to work with each other regardless of specialty!"

"You certainly have more maturity than Foxtail, then. She designed this school in such a way that it's impossible to get ahead without someone else paying the price. And they pay hard!"

"Maybe I could find a way to change that. If I manage to oust Foxtail and every other teacher involved with this conspiracy, then I could give the school room to be a better school for the students."

"That's if she doesn't manage to cover it up or convince the public that it's for the greater good."

"Could anyone think that practices that make tons of students suffer for the benefit of a few students may ever be for the greater good?"

"…Good point there, uh… I just realized that I don't know your name."

"If you must know, my full name is Kaio Kincaid, but my friends call me K.O.."

"That sounds like an awesome name."

"I have an awesome mother that gave me that name. Now if you don't mind, I've got to get back to my friends."

As K.O. steps out of his chair and towards the vents, Queenie halts him for just a moment.

"Wait! You said that you had two hours to get back to your friends. How long has it been since that time started?"

"Ten minutes. And it should take about five to find Enid and get back."

"Wanna spend an hour and a half practicing with me and Phoebe?"

K.O. gives a smile at the thought of them offering to practice with him and gives his response.

"Sure."

The two Honors Students lead K.O. to the gymnasium of the school, currently unused, while avoiding the guards that frequent the school. When they get there, K.O. asks a very important question.

"Wait a moment, won't someone hear us fighting in there? If we get too loud, I mean."

"Don't worry about it, K.O.. The gym is soundproofed so that the other classes aren't disturbed by what goes on in here. Good thing too, since it's what lets Foxtail hold the Strength class."

"Wait a moment, did you say Strength class? I understand that the students here are split into three, but I didn't think classes were also split."

"They aren't. Each student does take lessons in each of the three disciplines, though the discipline you belong to does affect the order of the classes you take. For example, students in the Strength discipline take Strength class first, no matter what. After that, you can choose the order of the other two classes you take."

"Good to know! What about electives?"

Queenie gets a brief look of dread on her face as the three enter the gym and she breaks the news to K.O..

"About thaaaat… there are no electives in this school."

"What?! But why not?!"

"Foxtail said they would get in the way of teaching the main three classes. If you ask me, I think she just wants to keep control of as much of the school as possible."

"But there's so much more to being a hero than just those three things! There's ethics and self-maintenance and identity and plenty of other things that come together to make a hero! If you take away anything, you end up with an incomplete person. Take away the things that determine who the hero is on the inside, and you're left with nothing but a weapon."

"You preach to the masses, little dude. But Foxtail doesn't care about the masses at all. All she cares about is making sure that villains get dealt with. But enough about that stuff. Let's spar!"

The three get to the center of the gym and begin practice. Phoebe is the first one to offer a suggestion to K.O. as to what to do first.

"I'd recommend focusing on close-quarters combat first. You seem like someone that style would be effective for."

"I honestly have no idea how your deductive reasoning is at such a high level. Truly, no one could comprehend-"

"Alright, alright, I get it."

"After Phoebe's done with that part, I can teach you how to summon items with your power. More specifically, items fitting your personality and preferences."

"Is that how you have the demon sword?"

"No, it's how I have the _daemon_ sword. A demon sword would imply I don't even have a tiny amount of respect for the law."

"Then why not get a devil sword instead?"

"Because my respect for the law _is_ a tiny amount."

"Considering this school, I can't say you're really at fault for thinking that."

"Once she's done with the summoning lesson, we can teach you tips for a Power Battle. As in, how to win them as best as possible in your own unique way."

"I don't see what's unique about spamming Power Fists. Hell, it's a technique I learned from my mother, rather than something I made on my own!"

"Then you create your own variations on the technique that you find yourself happy with, while making some new and different techniques for yourself. The thing that makes art beautiful is not that it's contrary to what came before, but that it's an _improvement_ on what came before."

"Truly the words of a sagacious figure. Who taught you such a lesson? Or is that something you came up with on your own?"

"I'd say it's a combination of both, honestly. But enough about lessons and stories; I can see Queenie fidgeting with her sword over there."

"I am so glad you noticed! Now can we get this show on the road please?!"

_School of Sessions_

At Queenie's suggestion, Phoebe readies herself for combat in a stance similar to pankration fighters. K.O., at the same time, takes up a mixed martial arts stance that leaves few openings for an attack and allows for quick strikes to an enemy's vital areas. Queenie goes through a countdown from three and the practice match begins. Phoebe attempts to grab K.O.'s arms as he attacks her torso, but he reveals each punch to be a feint and then attacks the parts she leaves open. This continues for a short time until Phoebe keeps a hand near her vital areas and manages to trap K.O.. Then, she tosses him to the floor, only for him to grip the floor and use his arm to force her to be in the air. Once K.O. regains footing, he spins Phoebe in the air in such a way that her feet can't touch the ground, at an extremely high speed of rotation, until she overcomes the spinning and kicks K.O. in the hand, causing him to let go and make her fly to the wall until she stops herself from impact using her shield. They converse for a moment.

"That was a pretty impressive display, K.O.! You take this stuff pretty seriously for a child!"

"If I'm going to be a great hero, then I can't afford to slip up in fighting my opponents! Also, I'm sure you can take it just fine."

"You're right. I can take it just fine."

They rush at each other and go at one another with a flurry of hits, blocks, counters, etc. until the 30 minute mark, by which point both parties are exhausted, but more skilled than before. They replenish their fluids and K.O. goes over to Queenie, who just got finished with practicing sword combat. They begin the practice for item summoning, with Queenie giving advice to K.O..

"To get started, you need to think about what your particular item or items will need to be able to do. For that, the best option would be mulling over your beliefs, skills, likes, etc. and then deciding what sort of abilities best fit that. For example, I believe that it is more efficient to kill whatever threatens a person than to just push it away, my skills include fencing, broadsword fighting, kendō, kenjutsu, battōdō, battōjutsu, iaidō, iaijutsu, haidong gumdo, a small bit of fiendish magic, and blacksmithing, and my likes are watching old movies, making swords, and fighting. Keeping this in mind, my item had to be sword-related, really effective at killing, as durable as my best work, good for any sort of duel, and capable of channeling fiendish power. So I got this sweet sword. Now you try."

"Okay! I believe that life is a beautiful thing that should be protected at any cost, that it is important to both know yourself and everyone you meet, and that doing good is the greatest thing a person can do. My skills include mixed martial arts, spiritualism, cooking, diplomacy, investigation, playing games, emotional support, empathy, hiking, gardening, reading, drawing, exercise, and writing. With that in mind, my item would probably be something that allows me to increase my fighting capabilities, lets me create better connections with people and objects, be able to be controlled from a distance, and let me make the best use of my creativity."

"Now that that's out of the way, you just need to concentrate your energy into a stable form by focusing on those attributes and finding something that can fulfill all of those purposes."

"I'll try."

K.O. closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, and begins to make power flow into his fists, similar to his Power Move, except lacking any harmful intent. His thoughts are as follows.

"_I need to focus on something that represents what would be best for me. What could fulfill all the purposes I have for it? Weapons are only meant to hurt, so I can't summon something like what Queenie has. Art tools would allow me to be creative and connect with people, but they're ill-suited for combat. Maybe I should focus on something simpler. Something more open to interpretation. Something that is more than meets the eye…"_

With that brief train of thought, he focuses hard on the energy gathered in his hands, using his willpower to make the energy solid, and he forms the energy into a pair of metallic-looking wristbands with a bright blue color that are composed of aura. They are reminiscent of shackles, except that they are barely thicker than the wristbands they replaced and they lack chains. For the moment. Queenie has a question concerning his choice of item.

"Nice summoning, but how is a pair of metal wristbands supposed to fulfill… any purpose someone might need them for?"

"They allow me to do this."

He brings his hand forth in a whipping motion and a chain of aura is deftly formed and used to bring a brutal and swift attack to the wall with a basketball hoop attached to it, resulting in the entire wall being filled with cracks and on the verge of collapse. Queenie's reaction is incredibly priceless in every aspect of the word.

"You make a good point, K.O.. In fact, one might say that you could stab someone with that point if you're not careful."

"I can do other things with it, like make literal connections with objects that also become figurative connections, control the chains and whatever they're attached to as extensions of myself, read life force with the chains, conduct aura through the chains, and separate the chains from the shackles to connect two objects. I can create as many chains as I want and make them as long as I want, so long as I have the energy. Additional uses pending what I can come up with."

"As far as versatility goes, that sounds like overkill."

"And your problem with that is…?"

"Absolutely nonexistent! Let's test out how well that pair of wristbands can serve you!"

K.O. complies and comes at Queenie to test out his power and improve it if possible. They come at each other using the full capabilities of their respective items and go at it for 20 minutes before his items shatter. K.O. is distraught.

"Wha- how did this happen?!"

"It takes practice to be able to maintain those items under stressful circumstances. Quite honestly, I'm surprised you were able to last 20 minutes! Most items from unpracticed users last 4 minutes at best. But the best thing about a technique is that the more you use it, the better you get at using it."

"That seems like it should be incredibly obvious."

"It should be, but most people don't realize it until it's too late. If they don't succeed the first time, they're less likely to try doing it a second time. It's sad, really."

"My mom told me that at an early age, so I wasn't that easy to discourage in general."

"Oh yeah! I was going to ask you earlier, but how did you get to the level of strength you had? For most heroes, 6-11 is when they _start_ training, and you already seem to have a lot of fighting ability from before."

"I guess I just started training really early in my life. My mom would train in front of me early on and I would copy her movements. When I learned to walk, she put plenty of effort into training me as hard as she could without being abusive. She would do really impressive things, I would do my best to mimic that impressive thing, and she would both make sure I didn't get hurt and encourage me to keep trying until I eventually did it. She even used it as a way of mother-son bonding. I learned how to manipulate aura at preschool age and only improved from there. In other words, I owe my strength to the fact that my mom did everything she could to help me reach it."

"Your mom sounds like she would be the best teacher ever. Certainly better than Foxtail, at least."

While Queenie insults Foxtail, that very person takes the opportunity to make Chip contact Dendy in order to see if she deleted the files yet. After waiting for the voice distortion technology to load, he contacts Dendy and asks her decision.

"_Have you deleted the files yet?"_

"I thought about it, but then I realized that, even now, my friends would want me to do the right thing and hold on to the files."

"_Wait just a moment."_

Chip mutes the microphone and asks Foxtail what to do.

"She isn't going to delete the files. How should I respond?"

"What do you mean she isn't going to delete the files?!"

"I mean she isn't going to delete the files! She said something about doing the right thing and that her friends would want her to do it."

"Ask her what she means!"

"Sure thing, Foxtail."

Unbeknownst to either of them, Dendy has hacked the computer they use and is listening and recording to the conversation even when the other end is "muted." Chip unmutes the microphone and asks Dendy something.

"_What do you mean by what you said?"_

"I just figured that so much more people would be helped if I revealed the files to reputable sources than if I disposed of them."

"…_Hold on a moment."_

Chip mutes the microphone and turns to Foxtail for advice.

"She says that more people will be helped if she keeps the files than if she deletes them."

"Damn it, she's using my own logic against us!"

"What do I do?"

"Give it to me, and I'll show you!"

Also unbeknownst to either Chip or Foxtail, Dendy has enabled their webcam and has been recording the content the entire time. Nevertheless, Foxtail ignorantly takes the reins of the conversation, not knowing that voice distortion technology doesn't compensate for different voices. And that Dendy has disabled that, as well.

"_Forget about the people you could help for a moment. How would Carol react if she found out you let her baby boy die?"_

"Pretty well, considering she's been listening to our entire conversation."

"_You let someone else listen to our conversation?!"_

"Yeah, but she saw the video with me, and she works at the plaza, so I figured she was cool."

"_Fine then! If you do not comply with our demands in the next hour, I will give these poor souls a fate even worse than death!"_

"I'll consider it."

Foxtail hangs up and Dendy turns to Carol, who is behind the wheel of Mr. Gar's car, with Mr. Gar and Succulentus in the back seat.

"How long until we get to their headquarters?"

"59 minutes."

"Acceptable. Even if we don't make it in time, Foxtail will likely try to create hollow efforts at intimidating me until I give in, meaning they should be okay until we get there."

Back at the gym, K.O. and Queenie have finished up practicing with their summoned items. Queenie is impressed at the wide variety of uses that K.O. could come find in a pair of objects that summon chains, while K.O. is impressed with the effectiveness of Queenie's sword in hardness, sharpness, durability, and the sheer strength behind her Power Move, Hell Piercer. Once this practice is finished with, K.O. turns to Phoebe.

"Is this the point where I learn to be good in Power Battles?"

"I would say that you've already got that down pretty well, judging by the practice you had with Queenie."

"Fair enough, Phoebe. But what would we do for the next half-hour?"

"…I guess we could sit and eat together."

"Good idea! But what would we eat?"

"I'm not really sure. You have any ideas, Queenie?"

"Honestly, I could go for something sweet right now. Maybe we should go back to our quarters and raid the fridge!"

"That would certainly be one way to forget about the glorbs."

"Thanks for reminding me, Crassus!"

"Don't insult Phoebe like that!"

"Do you even know who Crassus is, K.O.?"

"He was a Roman senator that had houses burned down so he could extort people to put them out, and he met his end by someone pouring molten gold down his throat."

"…I just thought that he was a random Roman prick."

"It would be insulting either way."

"Can we just go raid the fridge already?"

_Everybody Dislikes Foxtail_

K.O., Queenie, and Phoebe make it to the quarters of the Strength discipline and enter through the door they forgot to close when they notice a purple-haired intruder coming in through a different vent than the one K.O. went through. It isn't until K.O. closely examines the hairstyle that he determines it to be his best friend Enid. He then greets her.

"Hey there, Enid!"

She gets startled enough by the sudden greeting that she bumps her head on the vent and recoils in pain, muttering a profanity under her breath, before seeing that it was K.O. who made the greeting.

"K.O.! What are you doing here? With Honors Students…"

"Please let Phoebe and I explain ourselves! We met K.O. when he disarmed us and I ended up accidentally revealing secret information. I explained how this school worked to him and he introduced himself to us. He was originally going to look for you, but he mentioned that he had two hours total to get to your hiding place and we offered to train with him for an hour and a half. Of course, we only ended up using the one hour and we went back here to raid the fridge for dessert food and talk with each other for the remainder of time. Wanna join us?"

"…Sure, why not?"

They enter the quarters of Queenie and Phoebe, which contain two beds, a rack of gladiatorial weapons, a blacksmith station, a vinyl record player with vinyl records of various metal artists, well-known and obscure, and finally, 4 massive fridges labeled "Breakfast," "Lunch," "Dinner," and "Dessert." K.O. and Enid marvel at the sight, with Enid making a comment.

"I wish Rad could have been here to see this magnificent sight."

"So do I, Enid."

"Not to interrupt the marvelous reactions you two have, but who's Rad?"

"He's a friend of ours that we had to leave behind due to his shortcomings in remaining silent when moving through vents."

"Ah. Maybe you could somehow get him over here using your chains."

"That could actually work, Queenie!"

"Wait a moment, chains?! When did you get chains?!"

"I taught him about object summoning when we were in the gym. He came up with something shockingly versatile."

"Thanks, Queenie! Here we go."

On his left wristband, he creates two chains. One that extends through the vents to Rad's location, and another that is attached to nothing in particular. When the chains get where they need to go, K.O. briefly concentrates and lightning arcs through the chains and Rad appears next to K.O. in a flash. Rad himself appears to be very confused.

"What the heck?! Where am I?! How did I get here?!"

"You're in the room of two of the Honors Students and I got you here via magical chains."

"Since when can you produce magical chains?!"

"Since she taught me how to."

"Yo."

"Seems reasonable enough. Why am I here though?"

"We were going to raid the fridge for sweet stuff and K.O. wanted you to join. Do you want to join?"

"That sounds like a good idea."

With that, Queenie opens the massive dessert fridge and reveals a variety of desserts that would be certain to make someone want it. Much like the TARDIS, it is far bigger on the inside than the outside, meaning that the amount of desserts it contains is massive. Cakes, confectionery, cookies, custards, dessert sauces, doughnuts, frozen desserts, ice cream, pastries, pies, tarts, and puddings galore. Shockingly enough, K.O. is the first to ask a question.

"How is it bigger on the inside?"

"I literally created a demiplane just to store desserts in. So, do you want to just grab desserts from the shelves and make some really sweet combinations?"

"More than ever!"

The five go throughout the fridge, grabbing whatever fancies them. K.O. made a large bowl of vanilla ice cream topped with chocolate truffles, chocolate syrup, cherry sauce, crème anglaise, and whipped cream, Enid made a whole chocolate cheesecake topped with Dippin Dots, crumbled angel wings, rosette cookies, and almond jelly, Queenie put together a schwarzwaldtårta covered with crushed sopaipillas, treacle, stracciatella, and hard milk chocolate, Phoebe assembled a tiramisu coated in caramel sauce, vanilla mousse, pan dulce crumble, and topped with a bombe glacée, and Rad got a custard pie topped with crushed apple strudel, soft serve, and slices of arctic roll. They all got dark chocolate milkshakes for drinks and exited the fridge. The quintet gather around the large table and begin eating their dulcis opera, with K.O. being the one to get things going.

"So, Enid, how did you end up here when we went in separate directions?"

He eats the ice cream in his spoon and reacts in sheer delight.

"The student I saw in there wasn't one I really wanted to confront."

Her face turns melancholy until she eats a bit of her cheesecake, which manages to bring her mood back up.

"Did you think they were too strong for you to handle? Because judging by my experience, they shouldn't have been too difficult to take care of."

"Aaae!"

Queenie tries to object, but her mouth still has a good amount of schwarzwaldtårta in it muffling her. Not that she particularly minds it being in her mouth.

"No offense, Queenie!"

"Uunn aakn!"

"Also, don't talk with your mouth full."

"Oont ehll me waaa to do!"

"Sorry. Back to my question, Enid?"

"It wasn't her strength I was worried about. It was our history. Back when ee wehh…"

Enid was stuffing her face with her cheesecake as she said that, not knowing that she was doing so.

"Don't do what I just admonished Queenie for!"

She swallows her food after savoring it.

"My bad. Anyways, back when we were in middle school, we had used to be really close friends. We even had friendship charms. But then the P.O.I.N.T. Admissions Test came along."

Queenie's eyes flash as Enid says that and she swallows the sugary contents of her mouth to get a word in.

"Let me guess! Let me guess! You were doing fine, but when it came time for you to fight her, you couldn't bear to hurt her and she used that to shoot at you till you collapsed!"

"…Yeah, actually. How did you know?"

"Elodie always talked about that day to the other Honors Students! If I'm being honest, it drove me crazy how often she talked about it! I take it you practice ninjutsu?"

"Pretty much. But enough about the past. Let's focus on the present! Did you get any trouble, Rad?"

"Funny thing about places they can't find is that they can't find them. In other words, I didn't even _hear_ anyone come close to that place! Most of my time was spent on the mattress using my phone! How has Foxtail not found that place yet, anyways?"

"I hear from the other students that Laserblast had a section of the building designed so that he would always have some privacy with his girlfriend whenever they got 'busy.'"

K.O. swallows his food and displays a look of disgust and embarrassment at the comment.

"Seriously, Queenie?! While we're eating?!"

"Oh! Sorry, K.O.. Can you explain the technical aspects of the room for us, Phoebe?"

"Sure thing, Queenie. The compartment was placed adjacent to no rooms, the only connection being the ventilation system. Speaking of which, the grate opening of the vent is away from the floor and without any means to open it, in case someone tried to sneak in. Laserblast accessed this room by removing a false stone from the side of the floating ground the school is built on and crawling through an opening big enough for two people. After they got in, they did… relationship things."

"Did you have to take a bite of your dessert in between every sentence, Phoebe?"

"It's just so delicious!"

"If I may ask a question, wouldn't this have been on the plans of the building?"

"Good question, K.O.! I think that Laserblast had it added without Foxtail's knowledge so that she wouldn't walk in on them or try to seal it off. Or maybe he just isn't a fan of her."

"Can't say I find any fault with that, considering she kidnapped me and my friends, threatened to kill us if information wasn't excised, forced students into taking dangerous enhancements, created a toxic and divided school environment, got my idol to go along with her schemes, the list goes on! How someone like that could ever be a hero is beyond me, quite frankly."

"I think it's more like she became this way due to her hero work and the experiences she's had in it. Doesn't make it any less horrible, but it is a reason."

"Honestly, I don't care what sort of trauma she has at this point. A hero should not act the way she's been acting in any part of their work. If there's trauma, then you have to move past it and improve yourself, instead of getting consumed by it and getting worse."

"Yeah, by this point, I think it's pretty much 'prevent Foxtail from doing any more damage' and 'reverse the damage she's already done.'"

On the topic of damage to be done, Foxtail is pacing around the central room of the headquarters, wondering what she is going to do about the files Dendy has on her computer.

"Think, think, think! How do I get rid of the evidence?! I thought kidnapping her friends and threatening to kill them would be enough to scare her off, but she's going forward with no wavering whatsoever! Not to mention that, if I actually did anything to them, Silver Spark and Mr. Gar would murder me! Chip could offer help against them, but I don't know who else they showed the video to! Even worse, Dendy could have already sent the information to a news station and told them to keep quiet until she got her friends back, completely negating everything! She also could have sent the video I sent her to said news sources, incriminating me and my associates in kidnapping and possible murder! They might send an order to investigate this place anyways! My god, I am bad at being a villain!"

Chip looks at her with a deadpan attitude and runs his mouth.

"Keep telling yourself that."

"Chip, this is no time for any of your bullcrap! We are in danger of losing everything to this information! If the public finds out that we have been giving highly dangerous glorbs to our Honors Students to give them an edge, possibly against their wishes, for several years, we could end up in either prison or Hell!"

"Then why did we do these things in the first place?"

"Because we need to keep all the power to ourselves, so that it is in the hands of someone we trust."

"And so far, we've failed miserably."

"Please don't remind me of how bad a job I'm doing. I need something positive to give me hope."

"Alright then. …We got a tax deduction from redecorating the Megafootball field."

"What a victory. Something for this specific situation, please."

"Well, we could put a special bomb on the group that detonates if we get hurt."

"If Dendy doesn't hack it."

"We could use drones to create holographic copies of the people we captured and infiltrate the room with the servers."

"If Dendy doesn't hack _them_."

"I could just kill Dendy myself, then, to eliminate the leak directly!"

"If Dendy doesn't hack _you_."

"Are you insinuating that I can be hacked?!"

"Considering I, of all people, was able to do that…"

"…You cheeky bi-"

Separate from those events, the quintet have gone halfway through their sugary items and have been talking about the issue with Elodie for quite some time now. K.O. is currently leading the discussion.

"…And that is why you should strike down upon Elodie with great vengeance and furious anger. For she will know that your name is 'Enid Harker' when you lay your vengeance upon her."

"Thanks for the advice, Jules Verne."

"References to one of the greatest movies of all time aside, me and Phoebe wanted to know if there was anything you had a problem with K.O.."

"Not really. I have a stable relationship, an excellent support network, I don't cross or get crossed by anyone I regret, and I am managing T.K.O. just fine."

"Wait, wait, wait a minute; who's T.K.O.?"

"Just a manifestation of my repressed negativity given something resembling a consciousness as a result of being accumulated over my entire life so far. I managed to find a way to make nice with him and prevent him from being a problem in my everyday life, though, so it's okay! I can even access his powers in some capacity!"

Queenie reaches for his hand and looks at him with complete sincerity.

"K.O., if there is some sort of psychological problem or set of problems that would enable something like that to exist, then you can't just assume that you'll be okay if it doesn't 'interfere' with anything at the moment. You need to find a way to deal with the problems themselves before they get any worse."

K.O. is nervous at the sudden and uncharacteristic sincerity that Queenie is displaying with this topic, though he does make sure to remember the advice given.

"Queenie, what made you so serious all of a sudden?!"

She realizes that K.O. is extremely nervous at her shift in attitude, so she lets go and leans back into her chair.

"I… had some really severe self-esteem issues when I was in middle school. It even got to the point where I tried jumping off a building to end my life. Obviously, I survived."

"Oh dear! What caused those issues in the first place?"

"Remember when I said that most people _start_ training at your age? Well when it started, it _really_ started for me, as my mother was not a lenient person when it came to training. She demanded absolute perfection and gave me a series of insults until I got it. I'm sure you could guess that the most common of which is 'worthless.' This treatment continued for a year until the 'attempt,' after which my father divorced her and got complete custody."

K.O. gets some tears in his eyes from the story.

"That sounds so awful! What kind of mother would do that to her child?!"

"The kind that only sees them as something to mold into a weapon. But we shouldn't mull over the past. For now, let's just have each other for company and eat our comfort food."

The five proceed to do just that and manage to enjoy the rest of their desserts and the dark chocolate milkshakes within, though the memory of Queenie's mother and how she treated Queenie stuck with K.O. and ended up making him hate Foxtail even more due to her doing the same thing with the entire school. He hopes that Dendy does the right thing. He then decides to deliberate with the rest of the group about the Foxtail situation.

"So, what do you guys think we should do about Foxtail?"

"Obviously, we should find more stuff that Foxtail has done and expose it! I would be able to wander the school without too much suspicion and Phoebe can cover my butt if I need someone to, so we would probably be able to get a lot of information and bring it back here. Or send it to you via phone; if I knew what your phone number was."

"It's 227-233-5878."

"I'll write it down. Let's see… 227, 233… 5878?"

K.O. nods his head.

"Alright, I've got it written down. Let me just check that it's real first…"

She dials the number and K.O.'s phone begins ringing. He sees the number 227-257-8287 and takes a picture. Queenie is satisfied.

"Remember to not leave the room. Or at least tell me if you're leaving the room and why. Later!"

More specifically, 27 minutes later. Is when she lets K.O. know what she found.

"_K.O.! Red glorb lasers!"_

"As opposed to blue or green glorb lasers?"

"_Sorry! Let me compose myself. What I meant to say is 'depowering lasers with something that looks like a red glorb.'"_

"Thanks for the clarification. What?"

"_Foxtail is developing a laser that can remove someone's powers."_

"…It would certainly suck to be hit by one of those, wouldn't it?"

"_Oh, certainly! I'll airdrop you a picture of the plans."_

An airdrop notification appears on K.O.'s phone and he accepts it, obtaining the schematics for the Disempowering Ray. Horrific ability, but it suffers from subpar marketing.

"Thanks, Queenie! I'll be sure to send them to Dendy!"

Just as he says this, he hears a noise from outside akin to a jet engine. He looks outside and sees Mr. Gar's hot rod zooming in to P.O.I.N.T. Headquarters at just under the speed of sound. It keeps getting closer until it crashes into Foxtails office. Queenie gets startled.

"_Whaaat was that noise?!"_

"Something I'm going to check out."

He takes some time to extend a chain to the crashed car, with his friends holding on to another chain, until he manages to get within transportation distance. Then, he uses the chains to blink on top of the car. Carol sees her son on the roof of the car and hugs him.

"I missed you, peanut!"

"I missed you too, mommy!"

"So how did you escape?"

"Enid did the work."

"Fair enough!"

The trio enters the car and K.O. is surprised to see Succulentus alongside Dendy and Mr. Gar.

"Didn't know you were coming along, Succulentus!"

"I came more on the principle of speaking out against authority. Though after spending a car ride with these three, I might just open up a music shop in Lakewood Plaza."

"Super!"

"_Wait a moment, is that Succulentus?!"_

K.O. is shocked for a moment, before remembering that he didn't hang up. He gives the phone to Succulentus and he speaks to her.

"Hey there! Are you a fan?"

"_Kaktus Krew for life!"_

She does the pose Succulentus does on stage, which has been referenced in many role-playing games. She then gushes at length about the various concerts he was a part of, to his happiness. Dendy talks to K.O..

"Who is she?"

"A friend I made while I was finding out what Foxtail was doing. She has another friend that I also made friends with."

"Of course."

Carol switches gears to reverse, backs from the wreckage, switches to drive and drives away, all while giving the soldiers the middle finger.


End file.
